General Electric Building vs Continental Bank Building

Comparing the General Electric Building and the Continental Bank Building is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in New York, NY both were designed by Cross & Cross, and they were completed just one year apart.

This overlap gives us a unique opportunity to understand how Cross & Cross approached different commissions in the same urban context and historical context during a short period.

The General Electric Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 643ft (196m) with 50 floors above ground, while the Continental Bank Building reaches 561ft (171m) with 48 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 General Electric Building and the Continental Bank Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So Cross & Cross followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the General Electric Building and the Continental Bank 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.

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