Solow Building vs Citigroup Center

Comparing the Solow Building and the Citigroup Center is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 2 years of each other, 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 Citigroup Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 755ft (230m) with 59 floors above ground, while the Solow Building reaches 673ft (205m) with 49 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 Solow Building and the Citigroup Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Modern style.

Both buildings were completed when the Modern style was already past its peak. This makes them feel like late echoes of the movement, more reflective of continuity or nostalgia than of cutting-edge design at the time.

Both the Solow Building and the Citigroup Center 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 Solow Building and the Citigroup Center rely on a Trussed Frame structural system.

A trussed-frame system adds diagonal bracing to a traditional frame, creating triangulated elements that improve resistance against wind and seismic forces.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.