71 South Wacker Building vs Trump International Hotel and Tower

Comparing the 71 South Wacker Building and the Trump International Hotel and Tower is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed within 4 years of each other, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1181ft (360m) with 92 floors above ground, while the 71 South Wacker Building reaches 679ft (207.1m) with 48 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Trump International Hotel and Tower has less total built-up area than 71 South Wacker Building.

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 71 South Wacker Building and the Trump International Hotel and Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower follows a mixed-use model, combining hotel, residential and commercial. In contrast, the 71 South Wacker Building has remained primarily commercial.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower incorporates a 5-star hotel with 339 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower offers 486 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 71 South Wacker Building offering 163 spaces and the Trump International Hotel and Tower offering 960.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The 71 South Wacker Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube structural system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.