500 Boylston Street vs Federal Reserve Bank Building

Comparing the 500 Boylston Street and the Federal Reserve Bank Building is interesting because they both rise in Boston, MA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Philip Johnson/Burgee Architects and Stubbins and Associates, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Boston across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Federal Reserve Bank Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 614ft (187m) with 32 floors above ground, while the 500 Boylston Street reaches 364ft (111m) with 25 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

Both the 500 Boylston Street and the Federal Reserve Bank Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Philip Johnson/Burgee Architects and Stubbins and Associates followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both the 500 Boylston Street and the Federal Reserve Bank Building were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

The 500 Boylston Street also provides 1000 parking spaces.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.