Two Prudential Plaza vs One Magnificent Mile Building

Comparing the Two Prudential Plaza and the One Magnificent Mile Building is interesting because they both rise in Chicago, IL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 7 years apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Chicago across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Two Prudential Plaza is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 994ft (303m) with 64 floors above ground, while the One Magnificent Mile Building reaches 673ft (205m) with 57 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 Two Prudential Plaza and the One Magnificent Mile Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The One Magnificent Mile Building follows a mixed-use model, combining retail, commercial and residential. In contrast, the Two Prudential Plaza has remained primarily commercial.

The One Magnificent Mile Building offers 182 residential units.

The Two Prudential Plaza also provides 325 parking spaces.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The Two Prudential Plaza uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the One Magnificent Mile Building uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

And when it came to the facade, the Curtain Wall went with a Curtain Wall facade, which uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while the One Magnificent Mile Building opted for a Modular facade, that employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.