Lafayette Pavilion Apartments vs Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse

Comparing the Lafayette Pavilion Apartments and the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse is compelling because they were both designed by Mies van der Rohe, yet they stand in different cities (Detroit, MI and Chicago, IL), and were completed more than 6 years apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places at roughly the same time (6 years isn't that much time when it comes to urban context and architecture).

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 Pavilion Apartments reaches 220ft (67m) 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 Lafayette Pavilion Apartments and the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse 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 Lafayette Pavilion Apartments is primarily residential, while the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse is primarily governmental.

The Lafayette Pavilion Apartments offers 340 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 Lafayette Pavilion Apartments uses a Window Wall facade, while the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Window Wall facade like the one seen in the Lafayette Pavilion Apartments uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while 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.