City Place I vs 383 Madison Avenue Building

Comparing the City Place I and the 383 Madison Avenue Building is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Hartford, CT and New York, NY), and were completed a decade apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places in different periods of time.

The 383 Madison Avenue Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 755ft (230m) with 47 floors above ground, while the City Place I reaches 538ft (164m) with 38 floors above ground.

383 Madison Avenue Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,184,029 sqf (110,000m²), which is about 364,035 sqf (33,820m²) more than what the City Place I 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.

The City Place I was designed in the Modern style, while the 383 Madison Avenue Building reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The City Place I represents a late expression of the Modern, a style already in decline in 1984 when it was completed. By contrast, the 383 Madison Avenue Building followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

Both the City Place I and the 383 Madison Avenue 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.

Both the City Place I and the 383 Madison Avenue Building rely on a Frame structural 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.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Modular facade.

A modular facade is made of prefabricated panels, sometimes resembling stone or masonry, combined with smaller windows. It provides variety while maintaining efficiency in installation.