NEMA Chicago Building vs Trump International Hotel and Tower

Comparing the NEMA Chicago Building and the Trump International Hotel and Tower is interesting because they both rise in Chicago, IL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Rafael Viñoly and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 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 Chicago across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1181ft (360m) with 92 floors above ground, while the NEMA Chicago Building reaches 896ft (273m) with 81 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Trump International Hotel and Tower has less total built-up area than NEMA Chicago Building.

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 NEMA Chicago Building and the Trump International Hotel and Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Rafael Viñoly and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower follows a mixed-use model, combining hotel, residential and commercial. In contrast, the NEMA Chicago Building has remained primarily residential.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower incorporates a 5-star hotel with 339 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

In terms of capacity, the NEMA Chicago Building offers 800 apartments, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower provides 486 units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with NEMA Chicago Building offering 500 spaces and the Trump International Hotel and Tower offering 960.

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 NEMA Chicago Building uses a Window Wall facade, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Window Wall facade like the one seen in the NEMA Chicago Building uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.