Great Southwest Building vs Houston City Hall

Comparing the Great Southwest Building and the Houston City Hall is interesting because they both rise in Houston, TX, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Alfred Bossm and Joseph Finger, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Houston across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Great Southwest Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 292ft (89m) with 21 floors above ground, while the Houston City Hall reaches 0ft (m) with 17 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 Great Southwest Building and the Houston City Hall were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Houston City Hall 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 Great Southwest Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The Great Southwest Building is primarily hotel, while the Houston City Hall is primarily governmental.

Originally, the Great Southwest Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to hotel. The Houston City Hall by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Great Southwest Building incorporates a 4-star hotel with 226 rooms.

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