The El Dorado vs 21 West Street Building

Comparing the The El Dorado 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.

Both the The El Dorado 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 Margon & Holder 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.

Both the The El Dorado and the 21 West Street Building are primarily residential towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

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

In terms of capacity, the The El Dorado offers 204 apartments, while the 21 West Street Building provides 293 units.

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