[NYguy]

Originally Posted by SkyHigher

Yeh good point about the depression.

Though I don't think this building could over shadow ESB. Empire just has something more. It's very special. It's perfect pretty much. It's location obviously seals the deal. The name especially. The Empire State Building. It is such a powerful name.

I can't see it being unseated as the king of New York. Chrysler Building's prominence as well and even more thanks to a new lease of life coming in the near future.

The Empire State is special because it was the tallest, and dominated for years. The Metlife would have been completed just a short time after the ESB, becoming the tallest, and remaining so for years, also in a central location. It was the pure domination and scale of the ESB that grabbed the attention. But the Metlife would have put the ESB in second fiddle status, similar to the Chrysler. The Metlife likely would have been the building topped with some giant broadcasting antenna or even spire.
















Also remember that original plans for the ESB didn't include the spire. That was added to boost the height away from the competition. It has a similar stepped back design to Metlife.







http://www.rarearchitecturaldrawings...-building.html



https://www.reddit.com/r/architectur..._look_like_if/