U.S. Bancorp Tower vs 7 World Trade Center

Comparing the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the 7 World Trade Center is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Portland, OR and New York, NY), and were completed over two decades apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places in different periods of time.

The 7 World Trade Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 741ft (226m) with 51 floors above ground, while the U.S. Bancorp Tower reaches 535ft (163m) with 42 floors above ground.

7 World Trade Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,681,117 sqf (156,181m²), which is about 941,120 sqf (87,433m²) more than what the U.S. Bancorp Tower offers.

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 U.S. Bancorp Tower was designed in the Modern style, while the 7 World Trade Center reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The U.S. Bancorp Tower represents a late expression of the Modern, a style already in decline in 1983 when it was completed. By contrast, the 7 World Trade Center followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 23 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the 7 World Trade Center were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

The U.S. Bancorp Tower also provides 1005 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The U.S. Bancorp Tower uses a Modular facade, while the 7 World Trade Center uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the U.S. Bancorp Tower employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the 7 World Trade Center uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.