Nelson Tower vs 21 West Street Building

Comparing the Nelson Tower and the 21 West Street Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed in the same year, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

The Nelson Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 561ft (171m) with 46 floors above ground, while the 21 West Street Building reaches 374ft (114m) 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 Nelson Tower and the 21 West Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both H.Craig Severance and Starrett & van Vleck followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Nelson Tower is primarily commercial, while the 21 West Street Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the 21 West Street Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The Nelson Tower by contrast has maintained its original role.

The 21 West Street Building offers 293 residential units.

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