Sears tower

33 years later and Sears tower is still standing tall. It's the tallest building in the world, this of course dependent on how you measure.

Sears tower facts

Built : 1970-73
Construction system : Steel frame with bronze-tinted glass curtain wall (76 000 tons)
Cost : $150 million
Design company: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill
Elevators : 104( over 400 m per min)
Floors : 110
Height : Top of roof, 1454 (443 m), incl western communication mast 1729 ft (527 m)
space : 4.4 million gross square feet, 3. 8 million square feet(418,064 m²)

Built to become the headquarter of the largest retailer at the time, the Sears Roebuck & Co, and overshadowing it's component the New Yorks World Trade Center in both height and publicity the Sears truely could claim "the biggest" along with the "the largest" title for many years.

Sears New Jersey office

With it's new tube frame design developed by Bruce Graham, to some resembled to as a box of cigarettes(?) and it's timeless design it has became a true landmark for the city of Chicago and skycraper fanatics all across the world.

Resource of inspiration?

The Sears Tower is the most famous building under the design of Bruce Graham at design company Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) who also designed the John Hancock Center in Chicago and the First Wisconsin Plaza, maby you see some resemblance?

John Hancock Center 343.5 m

First Wisconsin Plaza

The towers three major renovations have both been overseen by SOM and by this mainteined the homogeneous look of the building. The first made in 1982 adding the communicaton mast, the second one in the early ninetees adding the atrium and a remodled lobby and the third one in the year of 2000 adding four HDTV antennas and extanding the western antenna from 1707-1729 ft to surpass the World trade...

But although it's iconic status and huge office space(Second largest in the world after the Pentagon) the 9/11 tragedy put the Sears tower in a financial crisis. In october 2001 several people were arrested, rumour says for a bomb plot against the tower but this were strictly denied by the FBI. Either way this resulted in a major lowering of the towers value and the occupancy rate was highly reduced, the owner, Trizec Properties Inc coulden't pay it's mortage but the lender MetLife Inc had bright prospects for the future.

Today Sears tower is the workplace for over ten thousand people and a major tourist attraction. The observation deck from which you can see both Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan are located on the 103:e floor (1,353 feet, 412 meters above ground) and attracts 1.5 million visitor a year.