Metropolitan Life North Building vs 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding

Comparing the Metropolitan Life North Building and the 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding is interesting because they both rise in New York, NY, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Harvey Wiley Corbett and Howells & Hood, 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 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 853ft (260m) with 70 floors above ground, while the Metropolitan Life North Building reaches 449ft (137m) with 31 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 Metropolitan Life North Building and the 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Metropolitan Life North Building 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 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the Metropolitan Life North Building and the 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

Both the Metropolitan Life North Building and the 30 Rockefeller Plaza Buiding 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 Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.