MetLife Building vs United Nations Secretariat Building

Comparing the MetLife Building and the United Nations Secretariat Building is interesting because they both rise in New York, NY, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Emery Roth & Sons and Wallace Harrison, 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 New York across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The MetLife Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 807ft (246m) with 59 floors above ground, while the United Nations Secretariat Building reaches 505ft (154m) with 39 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 MetLife Building and the United Nations Secretariat Building 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 both Emery Roth & Sons and Wallace Harrison followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The MetLife Building is primarily commercial, while the United Nations Secretariat Building is primarily governmental.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with MetLife Building offering 315 spaces and the United Nations Secretariat Building offering 1500.

Both the MetLife Building and the United Nations Secretariat 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 Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.