Formerly: The Sears Building Built: 1970-1974 Cost: $186,000,000 Designed by: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Renovated: 1985 by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill at a cost of $25,000,000 Renovated: 1994 by DeStefano and Partners Type: Skyscraper Stories: 110 Maximum Height: 1,729 feet / 527 meters Maximum width: 195 feet Maximum length: 195 feet Location: 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, United States
T he grandest tower in a city known for its great architecture, the Sears Tower has served for decades as a mighty symbol of architectural prowess and the triumph of engineering.
Just a few years after pioneering the trussed tube construction that allowed the 100-story John Hancock Center to be erected a couple of dozen blocks away, the same architects and engineers came up with another revolutionary construction method: the bundled tube design. The tower is essentially a series of nine tubes, bound together. Think of it as a pack of cigarettes with each tube rising higher than the rest. The shortest tubes are 50 stories, the second set rises to 66, the third set to 90, and the final to 110 stories. At the mechanical floors are extra trusses which act like belts wrapping around the building and helping counteract the forces of strong winds.
The tower was born out of the need of the Sears company to consolidate its offices. The original plan called for a much smaller tower, but the retailer was eventually convinced to concentrate its employees from seven other buildings into the lower portion of the building while leasing out the rest to other companies. We are fortunate that Sears listened to the architects and developers, because it is no understatement to call the result one of the most important buildings on the face of the Earth.
Architect: Bruce Graham
Structural engineer: Fazlur R. Khan
Bounding streets: Upper South Wacker Drive, Lower South Wacker Drive, West Jackson Boulevard, South Franklin Street, West Adams Street.
West Quincy Street was removed to make way for this tower. The developers purchased it from the City of Chicago for $2,767,500.
The original plan for this building was just 70-stories tall.
Before construction, models of the Sears Tower with the rest of the city were built and tested in a wind tunnel at the University of Western Ontario.
The last steel beam put into place in the construction of this building on the 110th floor was signed by over 12,000 Chicagoans.
The building, itself, does not have a tunes mass dampener, which is common on large skyscrapers. But both of the two large antenna masts has one of its own near the top.
The building's exterior is black anodized aluminum. The windows are tinted bronze.
Height to roof: 1,450 feet, seven inches
Height to tip of west antenna: 1,729 feet
Height to tip of east antenna: 1,709 feet
Official stories: 110
Missing floor: 109. The building owners count the roof as 109.
Disputed floor: The mechanical penthouse for the elevators. Some buildings count this, some do not. Sears Tower does.
Floor space: 4,560,000
Weight: 222,500 tons
Caissons: 114 in bedrock 65 feet underground
Elevators: 104
Double-decker elevators: 14
Observatory elevators speed: 18.2 miles per hour
Windows: 16,100+
Property size: 2.96 acres
Parking spaces: 160
Plumbing: 25+ miles
Electrical: 1,500+ miles
Elevator cables: 80+miles
April 6, 1973: Two women are hit by pieces of falling wood that broke loose from construction work on the 108th floor.
May 3, 1973: Topping out.
May 3, 1973: This building becomes the tallest building in the world, a title it would retain for 25 years.
May, 1973: This building opens to the public.
1974: Construction ends.
1981: Dan Goodwin climbs the exterior of this building.
1989: This building is sold for $800,000,000 to AEW.
1992: Sears moves out of this building to the suburbs.
1997: This building is sold for $804,000,000 to TrizecHahn.
1999: Alain Robert climbs the exterior of this building.
September 11, 2001: The Sears Skydeck is closed after terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
October 29, 2001: The Sears Skydeck reopens.
2003: Ownership of this building is transferred to MetLife.
2004: This building is sold to Joseph Moinian, Joseph Chetrit, and John Huston.
January 15, 2004: The Chicago Tribune reports that the Sears Tower will be equipped with cellular repeaters. This will help cell phone users who have a hard time making and receiving calls in the tower because of its structure, and the fact that cell phone users can be a thousand feet higher than the nearest cell phone tower.
March 11, 2004: Jeffrey Feil and Joseph Chetrit purchase the Sears Tower for $835,000,000.00.
September 25, 2005: An investigation by Emporis determines the actual correct height to the main roof of this building is 1450 feet, seven inches.
22 February, 2006: Rogue skyscraper climber Alain Robert tells Vancouver 24 Hrs that the Sears Tower was his favorite illegal climb.
May 23, 2006: A group of seven people are arrested in Miami for allegedly plotting to launch a terrorist attack on this building.
January 19, 2007: This building is sold for $385,000,000.
February 1, 2008: Several women walking by the Sears Tower are shocked by electrical currents from the sidewalk. The stray voltage leaked from the system which automatically de-ices the sidewalk when it snows (a common device for large buildings in cold climates). The system is turned off until it can be determined what the problem is.
The view is much better at the John Hancock Center, but c'mon -- you HAVE to go to the Sears Skydeck at least once.
Prepare to enter the building like you're at the airport. You will have to go through metal detectors.
**The street sign at the corner of Jackson Street and Franklin Street declaring that corner Fazlur R. Khan Way in honor of this building's structural engineer.
Did You Know?
**This was one of the filming locations for the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
**The white strobe lights at the top blink 57,600 times a day.
Kyle McLure
Monday, November 3rd, 2008 @ 1:14pm
Rating: Five stars. Personally, I think this building is great. You doubters might think it is bad until you go to the skydeck and view the entire city. It is breathtaking.
Tony Sears
Monday, October 27th, 2008 @ 9:49pm
Rating: Five stars. wow amazing building, have to see it, looks into the heveans. proud to share the name.
Leonard trimarco
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 @ 8:08pm
Rating: Five stars. Is amazing what men could do, with a few dollars and imagination. Im architect and this building represents a lot for me, I really love it as hancock and windy city too.Iwas in the skyline and the view from there is espectacular, you people of chicago must be proud of it
Brent Kampert
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 @ 8:13pm
Rating: Five stars. Every time and angle I see this building, I think wow, how beautiful it is. I really like seeing it when I'm at the NE corner of Ohio and Dearborn, and 1/2 a mile east near the NE corner of Grand and St. Clair, it's just so tall, and cool.
Hamid Reza Atri
Monday, April 28th, 2008 @ 12:34am
Rating: Three stars. This building is really interesting for me,and I wish Iran could build one of these buildings,I hope to visit it.
Karen VZ
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 @ 8:21pm
Rating: Five stars. It just takes your breath away ! The view from the observation deck will leave you with lots of info on Chicago as a whole. Chicago would not be Chicago without the Sears Tower ! Karen
Kevin
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 @ 4:13pm
Rating: Five stars. Was,is,and will always be the Mighty Giant of Chicago.A landmark that will stand the test of time.A Giant among Giants.I rest my case...
Victor Gonzalez
Thursday, January 24th, 2008 @ 1:22pm
Rating: Five stars. IMHO, the sears is still one of the greatest towering superhighs in the world. Think about it, Burj Dubai, inspite of its wasteful towering height still will not compare to the Sears in Square footage. The Sears Tower was there for created for effeciency and economy. Seems to me that Burj was created to just say hey we have the tallest building in the world. We have yet to see if there is a market for all the ridiculous building going on over there. Here in America we build up because the demand for it becomes evident.
jack mobley
Friday, August 24th, 2007 @ 11:16am
Rating: Five stars. I love how it looks different from almost every angle
George Baritakis
Thursday, August 16th, 2007 @ 10:55pm
Rating: Five stars. i have been inside Sears Tower, loved it, still looks modern and awesome. im sad its no longer worlds tallest building, but it sure has a place in my heart!
Cody
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 @ 2:38am
Rating: Five stars. i am from Chicago and let me tell you somthing it never gets old lookin at the Sears Tower God I love this city every body should come and see it you will what to move to Chicago
Blue Hawk
Sunday, August 12th, 2007 @ 12:00pm
Rating: Five stars. Sear Tower is best builidng in the world, it got to be the tallest building in the world instead of taipie 101,i am interesting in skyscrapers and high rise building i live in basrah iraq where there is no more 7 stories builidngs
richbh
Thursday, August 9th, 2007 @ 2:19am
Rating: Five stars. Magnificent. Efficient. Broad-shouldered. The lobby renovation of the mid-1990s moved the tourists out of the main lobbies to the Jackson Street (south) side of the building, and it was a welcome change. I worked on the 74th floor of the tower for six years and it was a very pleasant building to work in.
Digital Junkie
Monday, July 23rd, 2007 @ 1:02am
Rating: Five stars. SOM - what can I say. This building just screams masculinity in it's architecture! I love the simplicity of its looks and disign. The building looks like a city skyline within itself . Beautiful building! I give the Sears Tower six stars.
David Shmuel
Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 @ 6:02pm
Rating: Five stars. Growing up in Chicago in the 1970s, I fell in love with the Sears Tower. It came to symbolize everything that was Chicago. It still does, and I still love it. Now that I live away from the city, whenever I come to visit and see the Sears Tower again, it's like seeing an old friend.
Walter- CHI town
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 @ 9:23pm
Rating: Five stars. Ahhhh the Sears Tower one of the greatest towers ever built!!!! Bold and handsome this building makes chicago what it is!!! The building is a tube design of nine different segments (tubes) put together that gives the building its superior strength and sturdiness!!! The sears tower held the worlds tallest building title for nearly 30 years. thats, impressive besides its good looks and advanced arcitectual design of course.
Ben Miller
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 @ 1:53pm
Rating: Five stars. What a skyscraper should be. Strong, assymetrical, square-shouldered, and powerful. A brilliant and understated design.
dennis bosano
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007 @ 9:52am
Rating: Five stars. the design is minimal but stands out to the rest of the structure that surrounds it
John
Monday, January 1st, 2007 @ 6:11pm
Rating: Five stars. This building is the best in the world. USA is the country that started it all and all of a sudden, foriegn countries decide to start building skyscrapers by cheating with un occcupyable (sp)spires. that is fony.
shugo
Monday, November 27th, 2006 @ 12:35am
Rating: One star. There is no art in it, It is just like a box of flip top cigars put on top of the other.....
shaxawan
Thursday, November 9th, 2006 @ 2:48am
Rating: One star. the building is nice. i live in iraq indarbnd city in kurdstan
dave
Monday, October 23rd, 2006 @ 12:08pm
Rating: Five stars. The grand daddy of them all. Sears tower still reigns in Skyscraper history.
Randall Krause
Saturday, October 14th, 2006 @ 1:55am
Rating: Five stars. Sears Tower was the last supertall building constructed during the International architecture period, and SOM's interpretation of the style is remarkably bold and awe-inspiring. Sears Tower, alongside John Hancock Center and the Standard Oil Building, were the epitome of the Chicago skyscraper craze during the latter half of the 20th century -- a time when the Chicago economy was booming and tall buildings were a sign of commercial strength and success. Engineers sought different ways of emphasizing the city of "broad shoulders", and the desire for Chicagoans (esp. their businesses) to always be bigger, bolder, and better. Sears Tower is perfectly reminiscient of a thriving, innovative period in Chicago architectural history.
Kirby
Wednesday, July 5th, 2006 @ 11:31pm
Rating: Five stars. Ahh the Sears Tower is amazing. One cant really get to know how HUGE this building is until they take a helicopter ride around it. not from the base oe even from the observation deck can one realize how huge and titanic this builing is!!
Chris
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 @ 2:35pm
I like thew height, but I feel that the tower looks sort of ugly. It appears almost like five skyscrapers in one, and the design I guess is too dark, and kind of bland. Still is unique though.
apollo
Saturday, April 1st, 2006 @ 10:16pm
Rating: Five stars. Sears Tower is the greatest building ever built. It is the world's tallest building, no questions asked. Taipei cheated their way to the top, and as far as I am concerned, Sears is the tallest. This building is my absolute favorite, and always will be. No one can ever beat its strength and beauty.
Casey
Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 @ 9:53pm
Rating: One star. Greatiest Building Ever
Tony Contreras
Saturday, March 11th, 2006 @ 8:59am
Rating: Five stars. The Sears Tower is what Chicago is all about. A strong building with bold shoulders. People from outside Chicago do not understand.
james jacob
Monday, March 6th, 2006 @ 12:04am
Rating: Three stars. breathtakingly tall. but it lacks originality. then again, it was way ahead of its time.
Kevin
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006 @ 5:20pm
Rating: Five stars. The building is iconic. Muscular and no-nonsense -- perfect for this city.
kenneth Coleman
Saturday, October 8th, 2005 @ 11:48am
Rating: Two stars. It looks like someone glued several buildings together. I think there is too much function and not enough form
Linda Wines
Monday, August 29th, 2005 @ 2:25pm
Rating: Five stars. well first off us Illinoisans are proud that we have the tallest buiding in the US here...this is a very beautiful structure...and it stands out in the skyline all by itself...
If you get the chance take the elevator ride to the top and see the fantastic view ...you have no idea of what youre missing until you do!!!
Wilbert NYC
Sunday, August 7th, 2005 @ 1:33am
Rating: Three stars. its design is bulky but still it was a inovative design for its time, with the "tube construction" as already explained, one thing for sure the sears tower has been always the tallest building until taipei 101 surpassed it (in hieght of last occupational floor)if it was for total hieght with spire or antenna the late North Tower(World Trade Center) would have been the tallest building in the world at 1,701' Sears tower extended to 1,705' I rest my case.
GH
Monday, April 18th, 2005 @ 11:32pm
Rating: Two stars. Sure, it is tall, but i do feel its slightly misshapen, or put together wrong
Tony Lopez
Thursday, October 21st, 2004 @ 11:51pm
Rating: Three stars. Makes a strong statement. Bulky, strong, a structure that does not seem to "put on airs."
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New York, United States
Kyle McLure
Five stars.
Tony Sears
Leonard trimarco
Hamid Reza Atri
Three stars.
George Baritakis
Blue Hawk
dennis bosano
One star.
Two stars.