Lever House vs United Nations Secretariat Building

Comparing the Lever House and the United Nations Secretariat Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, 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 United Nations Secretariat Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 505ft (154m) with 39 floors above ground, while the Lever House reaches 307ft (93.57m) with 21 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 Lever House and the United Nations Secretariat Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

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

The Lever House is primarily commercial, while the United Nations Secretariat Building is primarily governmental.

The United Nations Secretariat Building also provides 1500 parking spaces.

Both the Lever House and the United Nations Secretariat 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 Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.