One Prudential Plaza vs 900-910 North Lake Shore

Comparing the One Prudential Plaza and the 900-910 North Lake Shore is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed just one year apart, 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 One Prudential Plaza is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 600ft (183m) with 41 floors above ground, while the 900-910 North Lake Shore reaches 0ft (m) with 29 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 One Prudential Plaza and the 900-910 North Lake Shore 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 Naess & Murphy and Mies van der Rohe followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The One Prudential Plaza is primarily commercial, while the 900-910 North Lake Shore is primarily residential.

The 900-910 North Lake Shore offers 524 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 One Prudential Plaza uses a Window Wall facade, while the 900-910 North Lake Shore uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Window Wall facade like the one seen in the One Prudential Plaza uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the 900-910 North Lake Shore uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.