Axa Equitable Center vs 550 Madison Avenue

Comparing the Axa Equitable Center and the 550 Madison Avenue is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 2 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 Axa Equitable Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 751ft (229m) with 54 floors above ground, while the 550 Madison Avenue reaches 646ft (197m) with 37 floors above ground.

Axa Equitable Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,799,993 sqf (167,225m²), which is about 979,999 sqf (91,045m²) more than what the 550 Madison Avenue offers.

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 Axa Equitable Center and the 550 Madison Avenue 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 Edward Larrabee Barnes and Johnson/Burgee Architects 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 Axa Equitable Center and the 550 Madison Avenue 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 550 Madison Avenue also provides 20 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The Axa Equitable Center uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the 550 Madison Avenue uses a Modular facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the Axa Equitable Center uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a modular facade like the one seen in the 550 Madison Avenue employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.