Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building vs Eastern Columbia Building

Comparing the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the Eastern Columbia Building is interesting because they both stand in Los Angeles, CA, 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 Eastern Columbia Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 262ft (80m) with 13 floors above ground, while the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building reaches 207ft (63m) with 12 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 Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the Eastern Columbia 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 Parkinson & Parkinson and Curlett & Beelman 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 Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the Eastern Columbia Building are primarily residential towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

However, both of them have shifted purpose since their completion. The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building evolved from commercial to residential, while the Eastern Columbia Building moved from retail to residential.

In terms of capacity, the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building offers 74 apartments, while the Eastern Columbia Building provides 147 units.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building also provides 98 parking spaces.

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