Willis Tower (former Sears Tower) (Chicago, Illinois)
USA /
Illinois /
Chicago /
Chicago, Illinois /
South Wacker Drive, 233
World
/ USA
/ Illinois
/ Chicago
World / United States / Illinois
office building, landmark, sculpture, skyscraper, 1973_construction, International style architecture
www.willistower.com/
The Willis Tower is a supertall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, and was the tallest building in the United States though it was surpassed by World Trade Center One in 2013. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill. It was controversially renamed the Willis Tower on July 16, 2009.
Construction commenced in August 1970 and the building reached its maximum height on May 3, 1973. When completed, the Sears Tower had overtaken the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City as the world's tallest building. The tower has 108 stories (the building owners claim 110, but this includes the main roof and the roof of the elevator penthouse). The distance to the upper roof is 1,450 feet, 7 inches (442 m), measured from the east entrance.
In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, bringing its total height to 1,707 feet (520 m). The western antenna was later extended to 1,729 feet (527 m) on June 5, 2000 to improve reception of local NBC station WMAQ-TV. In the process it surpassed the height of the antenna on the former 1 World Trade Center in New York.
Sears vacated their space in the building in 1992 and their naming rights expired in 2003, but the building retained its iconic name until 2009 when England's Willis Insurance company, a tenant in the building, bought naming rights.
The Willis Tower has the most total floor space of any commercial building in the United States, and second-most overall to The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. One-story high black bands appear on the tower around the 30th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 106th–107th floors. These allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the tower's diagonal "X" bracing, which Sears Roebuck did not want to be visible.
The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.
Before the tower was developed, its site was split in half by West Quincy Street. Sears paid the city of Chicago $2.7 million for the street segment.
The lobby contains the moving sculpture "The Universe" by Alexander Calder.
The Willis Tower is a supertall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, and was the tallest building in the United States though it was surpassed by World Trade Center One in 2013. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill. It was controversially renamed the Willis Tower on July 16, 2009.
Construction commenced in August 1970 and the building reached its maximum height on May 3, 1973. When completed, the Sears Tower had overtaken the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City as the world's tallest building. The tower has 108 stories (the building owners claim 110, but this includes the main roof and the roof of the elevator penthouse). The distance to the upper roof is 1,450 feet, 7 inches (442 m), measured from the east entrance.
In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, bringing its total height to 1,707 feet (520 m). The western antenna was later extended to 1,729 feet (527 m) on June 5, 2000 to improve reception of local NBC station WMAQ-TV. In the process it surpassed the height of the antenna on the former 1 World Trade Center in New York.
Sears vacated their space in the building in 1992 and their naming rights expired in 2003, but the building retained its iconic name until 2009 when England's Willis Insurance company, a tenant in the building, bought naming rights.
The Willis Tower has the most total floor space of any commercial building in the United States, and second-most overall to The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. One-story high black bands appear on the tower around the 30th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 106th–107th floors. These allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the tower's diagonal "X" bracing, which Sears Roebuck did not want to be visible.
The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.
Before the tower was developed, its site was split in half by West Quincy Street. Sears paid the city of Chicago $2.7 million for the street segment.
The lobby contains the moving sculpture "The Universe" by Alexander Calder.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Tower
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 41°52'43"N 87°38'9"W
- Hilton Chicago Hotel 1.1 km
- Merchandise Mart 1.1 km
- Marina City Complex 1.2 km
- U.S. Bank Center 131 km
- The Fairmont Royal York Hotel 702 km
- First Canadian Place 702 km
- Brookfield Place 703 km
- Federal Reserve Bank Building 1368 km
- Atlantic Wharf 1368 km
- Complexe G (Édifice Marie-Guyart) 1414 km
- Federal Center 0.5 km
- West Loop Gate 0.5 km
- Civic Center District 0.5 km
- The Loop (Chicago Transit Authority) 0.6 km
- Wolf Point (River Confluence) 0.8 km
- DePaul University - Loop Campus 0.8 km
- Jewelry District 0.9 km
- Theater District 1 km
- Chicago Loop 1.3 km
- Near West Side 2.3 km
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