Los Angeles City Hall vs Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building

Comparing the Los Angeles City Hall and the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in Los Angeles, CA both were designed by Parkinson & Parkinson, and they were completed within 3 years of each other.

This overlap gives us a unique opportunity to understand how Parkinson & Parkinson approached different commissions in the same urban context and historical context during a short period.

The Los Angeles City Hall is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 453ft (138m) with 28 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 Los Angeles City Hall and the Title Guarantee and Trust Company 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 Parkinson & Parkinson followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

The Los Angeles City Hall is primarily governmental, while the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The Los Angeles City Hall by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building offers 74 residential units.

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

Both the Los Angeles City Hall and the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building rely on a Frame structural 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.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.