Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse vs Lafayette Apartment Towers

Comparing the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse and the Lafayette Apartment Towers is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI), both were designed by Mies van der Rohe and finished within just one year apart. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 384ft (117m) with 27 floors above ground, while the Lafayette Apartment Towers reaches 213ft (65m) 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 Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse and the Lafayette Apartment Towers were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

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

The Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse is primarily governmental, while the Lafayette Apartment Towers is primarily residential.

The Lafayette Apartment Towers offers 584 residential units.

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 Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the Lafayette Apartment Towers uses a Window Wall facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the Lafayette Apartment Towers uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.