New York City  in the 1930’s was experiencing a race among three buildings to claim the title of the “tallest building in the world.” The buildings competing for the title were the Chrysler Building, 40 Wall St and the Empire State Building.  Throughout this period in time,  the United States was establishing the car culture and enforcing the importance the car being a new machine or invention will have for the future years.  Since the car culture was shaping the public and the way society moved. Two car companies that felt the need to demonstrate their dominance in society and place a landmark structure were Chrysler and General Motors. Chrysler obviously backed the Chrysler Building meanwhile the Empire State Building was backed by General Motors in a more subtle manner.

Art Deco was the design designated for both structures but you can still note the difference in interpretation. The Chrysler Building is far more ornamented from its exterior as you can quickly realize by its metal rooftop. It also has the wings statues on its corners directly representing the company behind its influence. Another difference you realize is the play with the windows. For a major part of structure the windows are vertical and then become horizontal and even diagonal further atop. The Chrysler is also stacked as one on top of another mass but as it continues to elevate the massing gets thinner.

Nonetheless, the Empire State Building is far simpler with minimal detailing throughout the columns or on top of some windows but the major impact of this edifice is the play of massing and the organization in the construction of the structure. The Empire was constructed in thirteen months and it was something to boast about since before this and until this day there hasn’t been a major project being able to beat this time frame. Another important factor in the exterior of the Empire is its verticality and overlapping play of the structure making it asymmetrical. The Empire is big on mass since it starts on a whole lot and as it also rises as it gets thinner but the proportions used for the Empire are far more complementing to its bulk.