Before the Devon Tower project was approved at the August 20, 2008, OCURA meeting, Jon Pickard of Pickard Chilton Architects Inc., the Design Architects for the project, had this to say: “Height is fleeting. Beauty is not.”

Related articles
Initial Devon Tower Article, 8/20/2008

Oklahoma Skyscraper City Circa 1931
Also, see this SkyscraperPage.com forum thread

While most Oklahoma Citians (myself certainly included) are absolutely thrilled to be joining the list of United States cities which can rightly boast at least one very tall, contemporary, and iconic downtown (or elsewhere) building, this article focuses not only on the height of the building, but, as Mr. Pickard said, the fleeting nature of pure size.

THE RELATIVE SIZE. Before putting “size” into perspective, though, it is certainly a fine thing to spend some time, at least until the “newness” of this grand new Oklahoma City development wears off a little, taking great pride (and thanking Devon Energy & Larry Nichols, its CEO) for giving Oklahoma City tomorrow (meaning by 2012) something that it couldn’t have rightly said much beyond 1931 when the First National Center and Ramsey Tower were finished in that year — relative to the rest of the country, at least one (in the 1931 instance, two) “tall” buildings relative to other cities in the country. When those two buildings were constructed in 1931, the Oklahoma City that then existed probably felt just as we do now.

In that time, for example, it appears that the tallest buildings in Los Angeles were several buildings in the 12-15 story range, at least as far as I was able to locate at SkyscraperPage.com as well as several other internet locations I reviewed. By comparison to our cousin up the turnpike, Tulsa, its tallest buildings in 1931 appear to have been 320 S. Boston (1929, 22 floors), Philtower (1928, 24 floors) and the Mayo Hotel (1925, 18 floors).

As noted in a Business Week article, utilizing only existing completed buildings as the measurement, if already built today, the 925′ Devon Tower would be the 20th tallest building in the United States, according (the article said) to databases compiled by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

Preferring to use the original source, I went there to do my digging. I was able to confirm that, if the Devon Tower existed today, the only cities with taller buildings in the United States would be Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Seattle, as shown in the map below:

Click the map for a larger view

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More particularly, I assembled the list — click on any building name for a quick article elsewhere about the particular buildings below:

ACTUAL & DEVON TOWER

Color & Abbreviation Used Below

yellow = proposed Str. = “stories”


  Feet Str. City Name Use Done
1 1451 110 Chicago Sears Tower office 1974
2 1250 102 New York Empire State Building office 1931
3 1136 83 Chicago Aon Center office 1973
4 1127 100 Chicago John Hancock Center ofc/res 1969
5 1046 77 New York Chrysler Building office 1930
6 1046 52 New York New York Times Tower office 2007
7 1039 55 Atlanta Bank of America Plaza office 1993
8 1018 73 Los Angeles U.S. Bank Tower office 1990
9 1007 60 Chicago AT&T Corporate Center office 1989
10 1002 75 Houston JP Morgan Chase Tower office 1982
11 995 64 Chicago Two Prudential Plaza office 1990
12 992 71 Houston Wells Fargo Plaza office 1983
13 974 57 Philadelphia Comcast Center office 2008
14 961 66 Chicago 311 South Wacker Drive office 1990
15 952 67 New York American International Building office 1932
16 947 57 Cleveland Key Tower office 1991
17 945 61 Philadelphia One Liberty Place office 1987
18 933 76 Seattle Columbia Center office 1984
19 927 71 New York The Trump Building office 1930
20 925 54 Oklahoma City Devon Tower office 2012


To put the “20th ranking” into better and more realistic perspective, though, the Devon Tower would be 25th if compared to buildings whose construction is already underway. Those buildings are included in the list below.

ACTUAL, UNDER CONSTRUCTION & DEVON

Colors & Abbreviation Used Below

coral = under construction Str. = “stories”
yellow=proposed


  Feet Str. City Name Use Done
1 2000 150 Chicago Chicago Spire res 2010
2 1776 82 New York World Trade Center One office 2011
3 1451 110 Chicago Sears Tower office 1974
4 1362 96 Chicago Trump International Hotel & Tower hotel/res 2009
5 1250 102 New York Empire State Building office 1931
6 1200 54 New York Bank of America Tower office 2008
7 1136 83 Chicago Aon Center office 1973
8 1127 100 Chicago John Hancock Center ofc/res 1969
9 1047 89 Chicago Waterview Tower hotel/res 2010
10 1046 77 New York Chrysler Building office 1930
11 1046 52 New York New York Times Tower office 2007
12 1039 55 Atlanta Bank of America Plaza office 1993
13 1018 73 Los Angeles U.S. Bank Tower office 1990
14 1007 60 Chicago AT&T Corporate Center office 1989
15 1002 75 Houston JP Morgan Chase Tower office 1982
16 995 64 Chicago Two Prudential Plaza office 1990
17 992 71 Houston Wells Fargo Plaza office 1983
18 974 57 Philadelphia Comcast Center office 2008
19 961 66 Chicago 311 South Wacker Drive office 1990
20 952 67 New York American International Building office 1932
21 947 57 Cleveland Key Tower office 1991
22 945 61 Philadelphia One Liberty Place office 1987
23 933 76 Seattle Columbia Center office 1984
24 927 71 New York The Trump Building office 1930
25 925 54 Oklahoma City Devon Tower office 2012


Last, keeping in mind that Devon Tower’s construction is not scheduled to begin until 2009, it must be regarded as a “proposed” building. Throwing the “proposed” buildings shown at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat into the mix, and assuming that all such buildings would be built according to present plans, the Devon Tower drops down to 35th in the list, below — 35th is not at all shabby, but a relatively quick “fall” from 20th to 35th does make the point — height is fleeting!

Various internet and other sources put together “lists” of tall buildings and some include “proposed” buildings. For example, this Wikipedia page contains some which are not listed in the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings database. However, spot-checking the Wikipedia article reveals that it includes buildings which do not match the criteria for being included as a “proposed” building at CTBUH. For example, the Wikipedia article includes the theoretical Trans National Place in Boston at 1,175 feet even though the height was nixed by the FAA in May 2008, as reported in the Boston Globe. An example that both sources include even though the project has been suspended due to financing is the Waterview Tower in Chicago. That said, the Wikipedia and CTBUH listings are not terribly dissimilar, even though the Wikipedia article is more lax in its inclusions, and there are other examples of this such as the still theoretical and unapproved Madison Square Garden projects.

Given the strong CTBUH credentials, I’ve chosen to use its list, shown below, also relied upon by this Business Week article. The CTBUH criteria for including a “proposed” building are the following:

When is a tall building considered to be a ‘real’ proposal?
A ‘real’ proposed tall building can be considered such if it fulfills all of the following criteria:
1. Has a specific site,
2. Has a developer / financer,
3. Has a full professional design team who are in the process of progressing the design beyond the conceptual stage,
4. Has a dialogue with the local planning authorities with a view to obtaining full legal permission for construction,
5. Has a full intention to progress the building to construction and completion.

Only buildings that are fully in the public domain and fulfill all the above criteria will be included in the CTBUH ‘proposed’ building listings. Also, note that due to the changing nature of early stage designs and client information restrictions, some height data for ‘proposed’ tall buildings that appears on the CTBUH ‘Tallest Lists’ is unconfirmed.

Given that definition, as of the CTBUH July 2008 databases, and adding the Devon Tower which was approved this week in August, the list looks like this:

ACTUAL, UNDER CONSTRUCTION & PROPOSED

Colors & Abbreviations Used Below

coral = under construction Str. = “stories”
yellow=proposed ???? = no date stated


  Feet Str. City Name Use Done
1 2000 150 Chicago Chicago Spire res 2010
2 1776 82 New York World Trade Center One office 2011
3 1510 63 Philadelphia American Commerce Center ofc/hotel 2012
4 1451 110 Chicago Sears Tower office 1974
5 1362 96 Chicago Trump International Hotel & Tower hotel/res 2009
6 1350 79 New York Two World Trade Center office 2012
7 1250 102 New York Empire State Building office 1931
8 1240 79 New York Three World Trade Center office 2012
9 1200 54 New York Bank of America Tower office 2008
10 1200 80 San Francisco Transbay Transit Center & Tower office ????
11 1154 75 New York Torre Verre hotel/res ????
12 1136 83 Chicago Aon Center office 1973
13 1127 100 Chicago John Hancock Center ofc/res 1969
14 1057 70 Nashville Signature Tower office 2010
15 1049 70 Miami One Bayfront Plaza ofc/hotel 2014
16 1047 89 Chicago Waterview Tower hotel/res 2010
17 1046 77 New York Chrysler Building office 1930
18 1046 52 New York New York Times Tower office 2007
19 1039 55 Atlanta Bank of America Plaza office 1993
20 1022 93 Miami Empire World Condo Tower res ????
21 1022 93 Miami Empire World Apartment Tower res ????
22 1018 73 Los Angeles U.S. Bank Tower office 1990
23 1007 60 Chicago AT&T Corporate Center office 1989
24 1002 75 Houston JP Morgan Chase Tower office 1982
25 995 64 Chicago Two Prudential Plaza office 1990
26 992 71 Houston Wells Fargo Plaza office 1983
27 975 64 New York Four World Trade Center office 2012
28 974 57 Philadelphia Comcast Center office 2008
29 961 66 Chicago 311 South Wacker Drive office 1990
30 952 67 New York American International Building office 1932
31 947 57 Cleveland Key Tower office 1991
32 945 61 Philadelphia One Liberty Place office 1987
33 933 76 Seattle Columbia Center office 1984
34 927 71 New York The Trump Building office 1930
35 925 54 Oklahoma City Devon Tower office 2012


To be sure, no certainty exists that any or all or just some of the “proposed” buildings ever get built, at least as they are proposed. For example, concerning the twin Empire World Miami projects, this South Florida Business Journal article concerning possible fraud issues relating to the developer.

BEAUTY ENDURES. Soooo … as proud as we are to be joining the rarefied air of those relatively few United States cities which can rightly boast of at least one very tall, contemporary, and iconic downtown (or elsewhere) building, “height is fleeting.” Larry Nichols wisely tasked Devon’s design architects by saying that size is not the object, beauty IS (my paraphrased words, not his actual). So, when some successor of mine writes a much later article like I did in The First National Center, 75 Years Later, I’m pretty sure that the beauty we see in the drawings today will still be seen by such a writer 75 years from now.

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