Town Apartments vs AT&T Building

Comparing the Town Apartments and the AT&T Building is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Detroit, MI, and were both designed by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. However, they were completed more than 25 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The AT&T Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 318ft (97m) with 19 floors above ground, while the Town Apartments reaches 194ft (59m) with 15 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 Town Apartments and the AT&T Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Town Apartments was designed at a moment when the Art Deco style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the AT&T Building style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the AT&T Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The Town Apartments is primarily residential, while the AT&T Building is primarily commercial.

The Town Apartments offers 250 residential units.

The Town Apartments also provides 25 parking spaces.

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