John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse vs Berkeley Building

Comparing the John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse and the Berkeley Building is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Boston, MA, and were both designed by Cram and Ferguson. However, they were completed more than 14 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The Berkeley Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 495ft (151m) with 26 floors above ground, while the John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse reaches 344ft (105m) with 22 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 John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse and the Berkeley Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Berkeley Building was designed at a moment when the Art Deco style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the John W. McCormack Post Office And Courthouse was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse is primarily governmental, while the Berkeley Building is primarily commercial.

The John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse also provides 32 parking spaces.

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