I could be completely wrong but don't these two trees reach similar heights and widths in landscape situations?

'Ogon' is a very interesting cultivar...may be slightly slower growing than the species which is typically fast.

Not really sure what you'll end up accomplishing. Dawn Redwoods also get large, and because they are usually pyramidal in shape, you often cannot comfortably walk under them.

If it is not going to brush up against houses or over power lines when it is older, there's no reason a tulip tree would be too large, other than for aesthetic reasons, possibly. They just need a lot of soil so they can't be crammed into tree strips.

Dawn Redwood would be a poor choice if you are looking to save space. Most cultivars are pyramidal with the widest growth at the bottom.

Maybe the tree experts on here could provide some good cultivars that would be less pyramidal.

You can limb them up though. I've seen DR used as street plantings. They look a little strange for a while.

As was already mentioned, these are both very large trees.

Dawn redwoods can have very large spreads. There's some in my area that are 50 feet wide. Incredible. The biggest DR I've ever seen.

Look up the dawn redwood pics from the missouri botanical garden website. If you leave the lower branches on they get them cool trunks after a few years. Limb them up and the trunk is bald cypress like.

Metasequoia trunks do get wide if thats an issue. Round here they just dont seem to get that huge a canopy compared to tulip poplars or the big oaks. Maybe i just dont see it.

Waas, thank you for bringing up Ogon. Ogon may be the most eye catching trees I have ever seen rivaling those fragile pink leaved beeches and growing more reliably. After seeing a twenty foot Ogon in Kansas City I ordered one. It grew almost a meter first year in the ground. About the same as my regular Metasequoia. I have seen only two or three of Ogons not counting Gardenweb. They SEEM slightly of slightly thinner habit than the species. (My Ogon does get a little more shade though)

Just found a fastigate tulip on the Forest Farm site. Never seen one in person. I always imagine them ultra narrow trees in rows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Forest Farm Liriodendron tulipifera Arnold/Fastig. - Fastigiate Tulip Tree

It's a no brainer in my world. Dawn Redwood, 'Ogon' wins hands down.
Granted, the Tulip tree has a nice clean, buttery yellow for Fall color, but the leaves are large and clean up can be a problem.
If they were planted side by side, which would be more interesting. A common Tulip tree or a Metasequoia g., 'Ogon'?
Mike
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Fall color on 'arnold' is not too good, in large part because the leaves do not abcise quickly, leaving the tree with a lot of brown leaves. They are prone to codominate leaders and tight crotch angles as well. There's far better columnars out there, in my opinion. If you wanted a smaller tree, there's even a semi-dwarf tuliptree. The cultivar escapes me at the moment. If the OP is interested, please sound off and I will try to find the name.