Trump International Hotel and Tower vs NBC Tower

Comparing the Trump International Hotel and Tower and the NBC Tower is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Chicago, IL, and were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. However, they were completed more than 20 years apart.

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

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1181ft (360m) with 92 floors above ground, while the NBC Tower reaches 561ft (171m) with 37 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Trump International Hotel and Tower has less total built-up area than NBC Tower.

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.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower was designed in the Contemporary style, while the NBC Tower reflects the principles of Art Deco.

The NBC Tower represents a late expression of the Art Deco, a style already in decline in 1989 when it was completed. By contrast, the Trump International Hotel and Tower followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 20 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower follows a mixed-use model, combining hotel, residential and commercial. In contrast, the NBC Tower has remained primarily commercial.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower incorporates a 5-star hotel with 339 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower offers 486 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with Trump International Hotel and Tower offering 960 spaces and the NBC Tower offering 261.

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