American Stock Exchange Building vs 20 Exchange Place Building

Comparing the American Stock Exchange Building and the 20 Exchange Place Building is interesting because they both rise in New York, NY, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Starrett & van Vleck and Cross & Cross, 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 New York across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The 20 Exchange Place Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 774ft (236m) with 57 floors above ground, while the American Stock Exchange Building reaches 210ft (64m) with 14 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 American Stock Exchange Building and the 20 Exchange Place Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

Back then, theArt Deco was still an emerging movement, so both giving it a pioneering role. By contrast, the 20 Exchange Place Building came later, when the style was already more established.

The American Stock Exchange Building is primarily commercial, while the 20 Exchange Place Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the 20 Exchange Place Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The American Stock Exchange Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The 20 Exchange Place Building offers 762 residential units.

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