Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse vs Racine County Courthouse

Comparing the Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse and the Racine County Courthouse is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (Saint Paul, MN and Racine, WI), both were designed by Holabird & Root and finished within just one year apart. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 259ft (79m) with 22 floors above ground, while the Racine County Courthouse reaches 157ft (48m) with 11 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 Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse and the Racine County Courthouse 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 Holabird & Root followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse and the Racine County Courthouse were designed to serve as governmental towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

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