Difference between revisions of "Willis Tower" - New World Encyclopedia
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− | The '''Sears Tower''' is a [[skyscraper]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and the tallest building in the [[United States]], by the measurement from the ground to its | + | The '''Sears Tower''' is a [[skyscraper]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and the tallest building in the [[United States]], by the measurement from the ground to its roof. By the measurement to the top of the antenna/spire, One [[World Trade Center]] passed it by 1.9 feet until only days before it was destroyed on September 11th, 2001, a short extension being installed on one of Sears' antennas in early September of that year. Commissioned by [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]], it was designed by chief architect [[Bruce Graham]] and structural engineers Srinivasa "Hal" Iyengar and Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. |
+ | Construction commenced in August 1970 and the building reached its originally anticipated maximum height on May 3, 1973. When completed, the Sears Tower had overtaken the roof of the [[World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]] as the world's tallest building. The tower has 108 stories as counted by standard methods, though the building owners count the main roof as 109 and the mechanical penthouse roof as 110. There are 101 stories if the mechanical floors (30-32, 64-65, 88-89 & 109-110) are not included. The distance to the roof is 1,450 feet, seven inches, measured from the east entrance. | ||
− | + | In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, increasing its total height to 1,707 feet. The western antenna was later extended to reach 1,729 feet on June 5, 2000 in order to improve the broadcasting capability of local [[NBC]] station WMAQ-TV. | |
− | + | Two-story high black bands appear on the tower around the 30th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 106th–107th floors. These are louvers which allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the structure's belt trusses, which Sears Roebuck did not want to be visible as on the nearby [[John Hancock Center]]. | |
− | |||
− | Two-story high black bands appear on the tower around the 30th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 106th–107th floors. These are louvers which allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the structure's | ||
The building's official address is 233 South [[Wacker Drive]], Chicago, Illinois 60606. | The building's official address is 233 South [[Wacker Drive]], Chicago, Illinois 60606. | ||
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==History== | ==History== | ||
===Planning=== | ===Planning=== | ||
− | In 1969 Sears, Roebuck & Co. was by far the largest retailer in the world, with about 350,000 employees. Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of employees in offices sprinkled throughout | + | In 1969 Sears, Roebuck & Co. was by far the largest retailer in the world, with about 350,000 employees. Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of their employees in offices sprinkled throughout Chicagoland into one building on the western edge of [[Chicago]]'s Loop. With immediate space demands of 3 million square feet and with predictions and plans for future growth necessitating even more space than that, architects for Skidmore knew that the building would be one of the largest office buildings in the world. |
− | Sears | + | Sears leaders decided early on that the space they would immediately occupy should be efficiently designed to house the small army that constituted their Merchandise Group. Floor space for future growth would be rented out to smaller businesses until Sears could retake it. Therefore, the floor sizes would need to be relatively small, in order to have a higher window-space to floor-space ratio, and thus be more marketable to these prospective lessees. Smaller floor sizes necessitated a taller structure. Skidmore architects proposed a tower which would have large 55,000-square-foot floors in the lower part of the building, and would gradually taper the the floor areas down, in a series of setbacks which would give the Sears Tower its distinctive, husky-shouldered look. |
− | As Sears continued to offer optimistic projections for future growth, the tower's proposed height soared into the low hundreds of floors and surpassed the height of New York's unfinished World Trade Center to become the world's tallest building. Restricted in height not by physical | + | As Sears continued to offer optimistic projections for future growth, the tower's proposed height soared into the low hundreds of floors and surpassed the height of New York's unfinished [[World Trade Center]], to become the world's tallest building. Restricted in height not by physical limitations or imagination but rather by a limit imposed by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] to protect air traffic, the Sears Tower would be financed completely out of Sears' deep pockets, and topped with two antennae to permit local television and radio broadcasts. |
===Construction=== | ===Construction=== | ||
− | Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971. The design for the Sears Tower incorporates nine steel-unit square tubes in a | + | Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971. The design for the Sears Tower incorporates nine steel-unit square tubes in a three-tube-by-three-tube arrangement, with each tube having the footprint of 75 feet by 75 feet. The Sears Tower was the first building for which this design was used. The design allows future growth of extra height to the tower if wanted or needed. |
− | Twenty-eight acres of black anodized aluminum panels and approximately 16,100 bronze-tinted windows were used to form the tower's facade. At the tower's freight entrance, a pressure lock | + | Twenty-eight acres of black anodized [[aluminum]] panels and approximately 16,100 bronze-tinted windows were used to form the tower's facade. At the tower's freight entrance, a pressure lock was installed to combat the "stack effect" generated by the differential in air pressure caused by cold air meeting warm air in the vast building. The lobby floor was decorated with metal tiles in a stylized design based on the bundled-tube structure. Some 2.5-million cubic feet of concrete were used during construction. The structure was completed in May 1973 and leans four inches from vertical due to its slightly asymmetrical design, placing unequal loads on its foundation. |
− | Construction costs totaled approximately $175 million at the time, which would be equivalent to roughly $950 million in 2005. For comparison, [[Taipei]]'s [[Taipei 101]], built in 2004, cost around the equivalent of $1.64 billion in 2005 dollars. | + | Construction costs totaled approximately $175 million at the time, which would be equivalent to roughly $950 million in 2005 dollars. For comparison, [[Taipei]]'s [[Taipei 101]], built in 2004, cost around the equivalent of $1.64 billion in 2005 dollars. |
===Post-opening=== | ===Post-opening=== | ||
− | However, Sears' optimistic growth projections never came to pass. Competition from its traditional rivals (like [[Montgomery Ward]]) continued, only to be surpassed in strength by other retailing giants like [[Kmart]], | + | However, Sears' optimistic growth projections never came to pass. Competition from its traditional rivals (like [[Montgomery Ward]]) continued, only to be surpassed in strength by other retailing giants like [[Kmart]], Kohl's, and [[Wal-Mart]]. Sears & Roebuck deteriorated as market share slipped away, and management grew fearful and introverted through the 1970s.<ref>For information on this transformation, see Donald R. Katz ''The Big Store: Inside the Crisis and Revolution at Sears'', New York (Viking), 1987.</ref> The Sears Tower was not the draw Sears hoped it would be to potential lessees, and stood half-vacant for a decade, as alternative office space was built in the 1980s. Finally, Sears was forced to take out a mortgage on their headquarters building. The company began moving its offices out of the Sears Tower in 1993 and had completely moved out by 1995, moving to a new office campus in [[Hoffman Estates, Illinois]]. |
− | There have been several owners of the Sears Tower since then, but Sears has retained the naming rights for the building | + | There have been several owners of the Sears Tower since then, but Sears has retained the naming rights for the building. |
Considered one of the finest locations for business in Chicago, the Sears Tower is now a multi-tenant office building with more than 100 different companies doing business there, including major law firms, insurance companies. and financial services firms. | Considered one of the finest locations for business in Chicago, the Sears Tower is now a multi-tenant office building with more than 100 different companies doing business there, including major law firms, insurance companies. and financial services firms. |
Revision as of 03:58, 9 June 2007
Sears Tower | |
Sears Tower was the world's tallest building from 1973 to 1998.*
| |
Preceded by | World Trade Center |
Surpassed by | Petronas Twin Towers |
Information | |
---|---|
Location | Chicago, Illinois USA |
Status | Complete |
Constructed | 1970-1973 |
Height | |
Antenna/Spire | 1730 feet [1] |
Roof | 1451 feet |
Top floor | 1354 feet |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 110 total, 101-108 excluding mechanical floors (depending on source) |
Floor area | 4.56 million square feet (3.81 million square feet rentable) [2] |
Elevator count | 104, with 16 double-decker elevators |
Companies | |
Architect | Skidmore, Owings and Merrill |
*Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to highest structural or architectural top. |
The Sears Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, and the tallest building in the United States, by the measurement from the ground to its roof. By the measurement to the top of the antenna/spire, One World Trade Center passed it by 1.9 feet until only days before it was destroyed on September 11th, 2001, a short extension being installed on one of Sears' antennas in early September of that year. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineers Srinivasa "Hal" Iyengar and Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Construction commenced in August 1970 and the building reached its originally anticipated maximum height on May 3, 1973. When completed, the Sears Tower had overtaken the roof of the World Trade Center in New York City as the world's tallest building. The tower has 108 stories as counted by standard methods, though the building owners count the main roof as 109 and the mechanical penthouse roof as 110. There are 101 stories if the mechanical floors (30-32, 64-65, 88-89 & 109-110) are not included. The distance to the roof is 1,450 feet, seven inches, measured from the east entrance.
In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, increasing its total height to 1,707 feet. The western antenna was later extended to reach 1,729 feet on June 5, 2000 in order to improve the broadcasting capability of local NBC station WMAQ-TV.
Two-story high black bands appear on the tower around the 30th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 106th–107th floors. These are louvers which allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the structure's belt trusses, which Sears Roebuck did not want to be visible as on the nearby John Hancock Center.
The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.
History
Planning
In 1969 Sears, Roebuck & Co. was by far the largest retailer in the world, with about 350,000 employees. Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of their employees in offices sprinkled throughout Chicagoland into one building on the western edge of Chicago's Loop. With immediate space demands of 3 million square feet and with predictions and plans for future growth necessitating even more space than that, architects for Skidmore knew that the building would be one of the largest office buildings in the world.
Sears leaders decided early on that the space they would immediately occupy should be efficiently designed to house the small army that constituted their Merchandise Group. Floor space for future growth would be rented out to smaller businesses until Sears could retake it. Therefore, the floor sizes would need to be relatively small, in order to have a higher window-space to floor-space ratio, and thus be more marketable to these prospective lessees. Smaller floor sizes necessitated a taller structure. Skidmore architects proposed a tower which would have large 55,000-square-foot floors in the lower part of the building, and would gradually taper the the floor areas down, in a series of setbacks which would give the Sears Tower its distinctive, husky-shouldered look.
As Sears continued to offer optimistic projections for future growth, the tower's proposed height soared into the low hundreds of floors and surpassed the height of New York's unfinished World Trade Center, to become the world's tallest building. Restricted in height not by physical limitations or imagination but rather by a limit imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration to protect air traffic, the Sears Tower would be financed completely out of Sears' deep pockets, and topped with two antennae to permit local television and radio broadcasts.
Construction
Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971. The design for the Sears Tower incorporates nine steel-unit square tubes in a three-tube-by-three-tube arrangement, with each tube having the footprint of 75 feet by 75 feet. The Sears Tower was the first building for which this design was used. The design allows future growth of extra height to the tower if wanted or needed.
Twenty-eight acres of black anodized aluminum panels and approximately 16,100 bronze-tinted windows were used to form the tower's facade. At the tower's freight entrance, a pressure lock was installed to combat the "stack effect" generated by the differential in air pressure caused by cold air meeting warm air in the vast building. The lobby floor was decorated with metal tiles in a stylized design based on the bundled-tube structure. Some 2.5-million cubic feet of concrete were used during construction. The structure was completed in May 1973 and leans four inches from vertical due to its slightly asymmetrical design, placing unequal loads on its foundation.
Construction costs totaled approximately $175 million at the time, which would be equivalent to roughly $950 million in 2005 dollars. For comparison, Taipei's Taipei 101, built in 2004, cost around the equivalent of $1.64 billion in 2005 dollars.
Post-opening
However, Sears' optimistic growth projections never came to pass. Competition from its traditional rivals (like Montgomery Ward) continued, only to be surpassed in strength by other retailing giants like Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. Sears & Roebuck deteriorated as market share slipped away, and management grew fearful and introverted through the 1970s.[1] The Sears Tower was not the draw Sears hoped it would be to potential lessees, and stood half-vacant for a decade, as alternative office space was built in the 1980s. Finally, Sears was forced to take out a mortgage on their headquarters building. The company began moving its offices out of the Sears Tower in 1993 and had completely moved out by 1995, moving to a new office campus in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
There have been several owners of the Sears Tower since then, but Sears has retained the naming rights for the building.
Considered one of the finest locations for business in Chicago, the Sears Tower is now a multi-tenant office building with more than 100 different companies doing business there, including major law firms, insurance companies. and financial services firms.
The Skydeck
The Sears Tower Skydeck observation deck on the 103rd floor of the tower is 1,353 feet above ground and is a famous tourist attraction. Tourists can experience how the building sways on a windy day. They can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin on a clear day. It only takes about 45 seconds to soar to the top in either of two special elevators. The Sears Tower Skydeck competes with the John Hancock Center's observation floor across town, which is 323 feet lower.
A second Skydeck on the 99th floor is used when the 103rd floor is closed.
The tourist entrance can be found on the south side of the building along Jackson Boulevard.
The Skydeck was prominently featured in the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" during the main characters' joyride into Chicago.
Admission to the Skydeck is free for persons three years of age and younger, $8.95 for persons aged 4 to 12, $11.95 for those 13 to 64, and $8.95 for anyone 65 or older. As with all heavily touristed areas, the exit is flanked by three gift shops featuring Chicagoland memorabilia.
- Sears Tower from Hancock Observation Deck - daytime.jpg
Sears Tower as seen from John Hancock Center observation deck
- JHancockCtrAug2004A.jpg
900 North Michigan, Park Tower, the John Hancock Center, and Water Tower Place (L-R) as seen from the Sears Tower observation deck
GoVerticalChicago stair climb
The world's highest stair climb race is held annually in early November, covering 1,353 feet in 2,109 stairs. As of 2006, 1700 participants make the climb, with the record standing at 13:26.
Which is the tallest?
At 1,483-feet tall, including decorative spires, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, laid claim to replacing the Sears Tower as the tallest building in the world in 1998. Not everyone agreed, and in the ensuing controversy four different categories of "tallest building" were created. Of these, Petronas was the tallest in one category. But with the completion of Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the Petronas Towers were surpassed in spire height, and for the first time, the Sears was surpassed in roof height by Taipei 101. At its highest point, the Sears Tower's antenna exceeds the Taipei 101's spire in height.
The Sears Tower is the tallest office building in the United States, and it retains the world record when measuring the height from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the top of the antenna. When completed, the Freedom Tower in New York City may exceed the Sears Tower through its structural but not occupied peak. Burj Dubai, currently under construction in Dubai, will almost certainly surpass the Sears Tower in all height categories in 2008. Within Chicago the planned Chicago Spire may surpass the Sears Tower—although not Burj Dubai—in all height categories in 2009.
Position in Chicago's skyline
Trivia
- The top of the Sears Tower is the highest point in Illinois. The tip of its highest antenna is 1,738 feet above sea level, its roof is 1,451 feet above sea level, the Wacker Drive main entrance is 595 feet above sea level. (The highest natural point in Illinois is the Charles Mound, at 1,235 feet above sea level.)
- Without warning, in August 1999 French urban climber Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices of any kind, scaled the building's exterior glass and steel wall all the way to the top. A thick fog settled in near the end of his climb, making the last 20 floors of the building's glass and steel slippery.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Flynn, Jay; Marenza, David J.; & Graul, Jim. Sears Tower: Sentinel of Chicago USA, DJM Publishing, 2000. ISBN 978-0929520230
- Pridmore, Jay. Sears Tower: A Building Book from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Pomegranate, 2002. ISBN 978-0764920219
- Rose, Alan. Build Your Own Sears Tower, Perigee, 1981. ASIN B000LB8EVO
- Rose, Alan. Sears Tower Building, Perigee Trade, 1981. ISBN 978-0399505362
External links
- Chicago Public Library: 1973 Sears Tower
- Official Sears Tower website
- SkyscraperPage diagram of Sears Tower
- Structurae: Sears Tower
Template:Chicago
Supertall skyscrapers | |
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Current: | Aon Center (Chicago) • AT&T Corporate Center • Baiyoke Tower II • Bank of America Plaza • Bank of China Tower • Burj al-Arab • Central Plaza • Chrysler Building • CITIC Plaza • Emirates Office Tower • Emirates Towers Hotel • Empire State Building • Eureka Tower • First Canadian Place • International Finance Centre • JPMorgan Chase Tower • Jin Mao Building • John Hancock Center • Kingdom Centre • Kuala Lumpur Tower • Menara Telekom • Nina Tower I • Petronas Twin Towers • Q1 • Sears Tower • Shimao International Plaza • Shun Hing Square • Taipei 101 • The Center • Torre Mayor • Tuntex Sky Tower • Two Prudential Plaza • U.S. Bank Tower |
Under construction: | 23 Marina • Abraj Al Bait Towers • Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower • Airlangga Residences • Al Hamra Tower • Al Rajhi Tower • Al Yaquob Tower • Almas Tower • Bank of America Tower • Burj Dubai • Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments • Busan Lotte Tower • Chicago Spire • China World Trade Center Tower 3 • City Hall and City Duma • Doha Sport City Tower • Dubai Towers Doha • Elite Residence • Faros del Panamá •Federation Tower • Freedom Tower (World Trade Center Tower 1) • Gate of Kuwait • Guangzhou Twin Towers West Tower • Ice Tower • The Index • International Commerce Centre • JW Marriott International Finance Centre • Mag 218 Tower • Marina 101 • Mercury City Tower • Minsheng Bank Building • New York Times Building • Northeast Asia Trade Tower • Ocean One • Ocean Heights 1 • Ocean Heights 2 • One Island East • Parcel 12 • Pearl River Tower • Pentominium • Princess Tower • Rose Rotana Suites • Shanghai World Financial Center • Shenzhen Nikko Tower • Sky Tower Dubai • Square Capital Tower • Tianjin International Trade Centre • The Marina Torch • Torre Gran Costanera • Trans National Place • Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago) • Waterview Tower • Wenzhou World Trade Center |
Former: | World Trade Center |
Construction suspended: | 868 Towers Offices and Hotel • BDNI Center 1 • Dalian International Trade Center • Infinity Tower • Marina Gardens • Najd Tower • Plaza Rakyat • Ryugyong Hotel • Skycity • Tianlong Hotel • Xiamen Post & Telecommunications Building |
See also: | Supertall proposed skyscrapers |
Template:Chicago skyscrapers
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- ↑ For information on this transformation, see Donald R. Katz The Big Store: Inside the Crisis and Revolution at Sears, New York (Viking), 1987.