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	1970-1974
Height
Antenna/Spire	527 m (1730 ft) [1]
Roof	442 m (1450 ft)
Top floor	435.8 m (1431 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	110
Floor area	4.56 million sq ft. (3.81 million sq ft. rentable) 418,064 m² (353,961 m² 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; see world's tallest buildings and structures for other listings.

The Sears Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. It has been the tallest building in the United States since 1973, surpassing the World Trade Center, which itself had surpassed the Empire State Building only a year earlier. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineers Srinivasa and Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x643, 80 KB) Summary Photo taken 1998 by uploader. ... For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation). ... The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were the worlds tallest towers from 1998 to 2004, if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Shaklee Terraces, San Francisco, designed in 1982 with a flush aluminum and glass facade and rounded corners. ... The CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario is the worlds second tallest freestanding structure on land at 553. ... For other uses, see Skyscraper (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation). ... The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, New York on the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company is an American mid-range chain of international department stores, founded by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck in the late 19th century. ... Bruce Graham is an American architect. ... Image:Fazlur Khan. ... Shaklee Terraces, San Francisco, designed in 1982 with a flush aluminum and glass facade and rounded corners. ...

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. The distance to the roof is 442 m (1,450 ft 7 in), measured from the east entrance. is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, increasing its total height to 520 m (1,705 ft). The western antenna was later extended to 527 m (1,730 ft) on June 5, 2000 to improve reception of local NBC station WMAQ-TV. is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... “WMAQ” redirects here. ...

Black bands appear on the tower around the 29th–33rd, 64th–66th, 88th–90th, and 104th–109th 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 John Hancock Center. The Sears Tower has the second most total floor space of any building in the United States, only behind The Pentagon. A louver (or louvre in British English, from French louvert; the open one) is a frame with horizontal and vertical slats, which are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and sun shine. ... In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units which are constructed with straight slender members whose ends are connected at joints. ... Several buildings bear this name, all built by John Hancock Insurance and named after John Hancock. ... This article is about the United States military building. ...

The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. All three levels of Wacker Drive, east of Columbus Drive, including a ramp between the upper and lower (middle) levels Wacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the downtown side of the Chicago River. ...

On August 12, 2007, the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was reported by its developers to have surpassed the Sears Tower in all height categories. It overtook the Sears Tower antenna (527.3m) and the building now currently stands at least 37.6 metres taller (564.9m). is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The Burj Dubai (Arabic: Dubai Tower) is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ... Coordinates: , Emirate Government  - Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Area [1]  - Metro 4,114 km² (1,588. ... A Yagi-Uda beam antenna Short Wave Curtain Antenna (Moosbrunn, Austria) A building rooftop supporting numerous dish and sectored mobile telecommunications antennas (Doncaster, Victoria, Australia) An antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive radio waves which are a class of electromagnetic waves. ...

History

Planning and construction

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 distributed throughout the Chicago area into one building on the western edge of Chicago's Loop. With immediate space demands of 3 million square feet (279,000 m²), 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. Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company is an American mid-range chain of international department stores, founded by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck in the late 19th century. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... The Loop is what locals call the historical center of downtown Chicago. ...

Sears executives decided early on that the space they would immediately occupy should be efficiently designed to house the small army that was their Merchandise Group. However, floor space for future growth would be rented out to smaller firms and businesses until Sears could retake it. Therefore, the floor sizes would need to be smaller, and to have a higher window-space to floor-space ratio, to be more attractive and 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 (5,000 m²) floors in the lower part of the building, and would gradually taper the area of the floors down in a series of setbacks, which would give the Sears Tower its distinctive, husky-shouldered look.

View of Soldier Field from the Sears Tower Sky Deck

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 limitation 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 antennas to permit local television and radio broadcasts. Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971. The structure was completed in May 1973. Construction costs totaled approximately $175 million USD at the time, which would be equivalent to roughly $950 million USD in 2005. For comparison, Taipei's Taipei 101, built in 2004, cost around the equivalent of US$1.64 billion in 2005 dollars. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 194 KB) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 194 KB) Other versions Originally from en. ... Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, and is currently home to the NFLs Chicago Bears. ... “FAA” redirects here. ... Nickname: Coordinates: , Country Region City seat Xinyi District (信義區) Government  - Mayor Hau Lung-bin (KMT)1 E9 Area  - City 271. ... Taipei 101 (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: TáibÄ›i YÄ«língyÄ«; Wade-Giles: Tai-pei I-ling-i) is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in the capital of Taipei, Taiwan. ...

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. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share and its management grew ever more cautious.^[1] The Sears Tower itself was not the draw Sears hoped it would be. The tower stood half-vacant for a decade as more office space was erected in Chicago in the 1980s. The company was eventually obliged to take out a mortgage on its signature building. Sears began moving its offices out of the Sears Tower in 1993 and had completely vacated the building by 1995, moving to a new office campus in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Sears Tower has gone through several owners in the years since but Sears has retained the naming rights for the building. Montgomery Ward (later known as Wards) was an American department store chain, founded as the worlds first mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kohls Corporation (NYSE: KSS) is an American department store chain headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... Hoffman Estates is a village located primarily in Cook County and a small section in Kane County, Illinois. ...

The Sears Tower still represents one of the finest locations for business in Chicago. It is now a multi-tenant office building with more than 100 different companies in residence, including major law firms, insurance companies and financial services firms.

The Skydeck

The Sears Tower Skydeck observation deck opened on June 22, 1974 and is located on the 103rd floor of the tower is 412 m (1,353 ft) 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 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 98 m (323 ft) lower. is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... --67. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Largest metro area Metro Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  Ranked 23rd  - Total 65,498 sq mi (169,790 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 310 miles (500 km)  - % water 17  - Latitude 42° 30′ N to 47° 05′ N  - Longitude 86° 46′ W to 92° 53′ W Population  Ranked... Several buildings bear this name, all built by John Hancock Insurance and named after John Hancock. ...

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. Ferris Buellers Day Off is a 1986 comedy film written and directed by John Hughes. ...

Sears Tower as seen from John Hancock Center observation deck Description: Sears Tower from the John Hancock Center Observatory Deck, taken during March of 2004. ... Several buildings bear this name, all built by John Hancock Insurance and named after John Hancock. ...

900 North Michigan, Park Tower, the John Hancock Center, and Water Tower Place (L-R) as seen from the Sears Tower observation deck The John Hancock Center is shown here as seen from the Sears Tower observation deck. ... 900 North Michigan, Park Tower, the John Hancock Center, and Water Tower Place (L-R) as seen from the Sears Tower in Chicago 900 North Michigan in Chicago is a skyscraper completed in 1989. ... The Park Tower Park Tower located at 800 Michigan Avenue in Chicago ( ) is a skyscraper completed in 2000. ... Several buildings bear this name, all built by John Hancock Insurance and named after John Hancock. ... View of the Water Tower Place skyscraper View showing the Water Tower Place shopping mall at the base of the skyscraper, with Chicago Avenue Pumping Station in foreground Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a 758,000 sq ft shopping mall and 74 story skyscraper...

Which is the tallest?

Height comparison with other tall buildings.

At 452 m (1,483 ft) 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 (height to top of architectural elements, meaning spires but not antennas). However, before the addition of the Sears Tower's own two antennas in 1982, One World Trade Center was taller by height to top of its 360ft-antenna (added in 1978 to its previous 1368-foot height). Image File history File links Skyscrapercompare. ... Image File history File links Skyscrapercompare. ... The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were the worlds tallest towers from 1998 to 2004, if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top. ... Nickname: Motto: Maju dan makmur (Malay: Progress and Prosper) Location in Malaysia Coordinates: , Country State Establishment 1857 Granted city status 1974 Government  - Mayor (Datuk Bandar) Datuk Abdul Hakim Borhan From 14 December 2006 Area  - City 243. ... For many millennia the record holder for worlds tallest structure was clearly defined (see table below. ...

Taipei 101 in Taiwan claimed the record in three of the four categories in 2004 to become generally recognized as the tallest building in the world. Taipei 101 surpassed the Petronas Twin Towers in spire height and the Sears Tower in roof height; it also claimed the record for highest occupied floor. The Sears Tower retained one record: its antenna exceeded the Taipei 101's spire in height. Taipei 101 (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: Táiběi Yīlíngyī; Wade-Giles: Tai-pei I-ling-i) is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in the capital of Taipei, Taiwan. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Taipei 101 (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: Táiběi Yīlíngyī; Wade-Giles: Tai-pei I-ling-i) is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in the capital of Taipei, Taiwan. ...

The Sears Tower remained the tallest office building in the United States, and retains the world record when measuring from sidewalk level of the main entrance to the top of the antenna. When completed, the Freedom Tower in New York City is expected to surpass the Sears Tower through its structural but not occupied peak. Burj Dubai, currently under construction in Dubai, is expected to claim world records in a number of categories, surpassing the Sears Tower, Taipei 101 and the CN Tower, when it opens in 2009. The Chicago Spire now under construction is expected to lay claim to most height records for North American structures the following year. For the building in Florida of the same name, see Freedom Tower (Miami). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Burj Dubai (Arabic: Dubai Tower) is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ... This article is about the CN Tower in Toronto. ... The Chicago Spire is a supertall skyscraper approved for construction in Chicago, Illinois. ...

Position in Chicago's skyline

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 192 pixel Image in higher resolution (2560 × 614 pixel, file size: 778 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)55 East Erie is labeled incorrectly. ...

The Sears Tower in Popular Culture

Sears Tower as viewed from Chinatown

• The Sears Tower appears in numerous films and television shows set in Chicago.
• The television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien introduced a character called The Sears Tower Dressed In Sears Clothing when the show visited Chicago in 2006.^[2]
• In the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris and company watch the streets of Chicago from the obeservation deck.
• In a commercial for McDonald's featuring Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, the two basketball legends negotiate a basket off the top of the Sears Tower.
• The tower is seen in the PC game Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. During "Mission 4: Last Chance" of the Allied Campaign, the tower can be seen in the northwest corner of the Chicago area.
• In an episode of the television series, Monk, Adrian Monk tries to conquer his fear of heights by imagining that he is on top of the Sears Tower.
• The building is featured (and destroyed) several times throughout the Rampage series of video games.
• The Sears Tower is believed to have been an intended target in both the September 11, 2001 attacks, and in the foiled Oplan Bojinka terrorist plot. However, this has never been proven.
• 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.

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Late Night with Conan OBrien is an American late night talk show that is syndicated worldwide. ... Ferris Buellers Day Off is a 1986 comedy film written and directed by John Hughes. ... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. ... For other persons named Michael Jordan, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). ... Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956)) is a retired American NBA basketball player, widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, and one of the best clutch performers in the history of sports. ... Monk is an Emmy Award winning television show about the private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), afflicted by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and multiple phobias. ... Information Gender Male Age 48 Occupation SFPD Consultant Title Mr. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... Oplan Bojinka was a planned large-scale attack on airliners in 1995. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Figures and Statistics

Sears Tower

• The top of the Sears Tower is the highest point in Illinois. The tip of its highest antenna is 527 m (1,730 ft) or 708 m (2,325 ft) above sea level, its roof is 442 m (1,451 ft) above street level or 623 m (2,046 ft) above sea level, the 103rd floor observation deck (The Skydeck) is 412 m (1,353 ft) above street level or 593 m (1,948 feet) above sea level, the Wacker Drive main entrance is 181 m (595 ft) above sea level. (The highest natural point in Illinois is the Charles Mound, at 376 m (1,235 ft) above sea level.)
• The building leans 10 cm (4 in) from vertical due to its slightly asymmetrical design, placing unequal loads on its foundation. ^{[citation needed]} This works out to about 2 minutes of arc from vertical.
• The building is struck by lightning an average of 400-500 times per year.
• The design for the Sears Tower incorporates nine steel-unit square tubes in a 3 tube by 3 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. ^{[citation needed]}
• The bathrooms on the 103rd floor skydeck 1,353 feet (412 meters) above street level are the highest in the world.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (788x1155, 709 KB) Autho giorces. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (788x1155, 709 KB) Autho giorces. ... All three levels of Wacker Drive, east of Columbus Drive, including a ramp between the upper and lower (middle) levels Wacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the downtown side of the Chicago River. ... Charles Mound is a gentle, 1,235-foot-high hill in northern Jo Daviess County, near the small town of Scales Mound and 11 miles northeast of Galena. ... For information on lightning precautions, see Lightning safety. ... A typical American bathroom A bathroom is a room that may have different functions depending on the cultural context. ...

References

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sears Tower

• Sears Merchandise Building Tower - original Sears Tower
• Sears, Roebuck and Company Administration Building
• Chicago architecture
• List of tallest buildings by U.S. state
• List of tallest buildings in the United States
• List of tallest buildings in Chicago
• List of towers
• World's tallest structures
• WLS-TV

Skyline perspective

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Sears Merchandise Building Tower is a building that was used by Sears as a retail office building. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company Administration Building was the headquarters for, Sears, Roebuck and Company, the largest mail order and merchandise company in the United States for over sixty years. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The following information concerns the tallest fully-inhabitable buildings in each U.S. state. ... 20 tallest buildings in the United States U.S. Bank Tower Columbia Center Chicago, IL: Sears Tower AT&T Corp. ... Downtown Chicago from the northwest Chicago has the tallest building in the United States, the Sears Tower, and many slightly shorter buildings, almost all in the Loop or along the Magnificent Mile. ... The following fall under the definition of a tower which is a tall man-made structure, always taller than it is wide, and usually much higher. ... For many millennia the record holder for worlds tallest structure was clearly defined (see table below. ... WLS-TV abc Disney 7 is an American television station in Chicago, Illinois and thats owned and operated by the abc-TV Network & The Walt Disney Company. ... Download high resolution version (768x1024, 87 KB)Picture taken by Richard Miller. ... Download high resolution version (768x1024, 87 KB)Picture taken by Richard Miller. ...

External links

• Official Sears Tower website
• Sears Tower on Emporis
• Sears Tower Facts, Graphs and Pictures
• Sears Tower Skydeck website
• SkyscraperPage diagram of Sears Tower
• Google 3D Model
• Sears Tower Cam
• Sears Tower in the Structurae database
• Maps and aerial photos for 41°52′44″N 87°38′09″W / 41.8789, -87.6358Coordinates: 41°52′44″N 87°38′09″W / 41.8789, -87.6358
  • Maps from WikiMapia, Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
  • Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA

v • d • e City of Chicago
History · Neighborhoods · Places and Landmarks · Parks · Architecture · Culture · Theatre · Sports · Media · Colleges and Universities · Flag · Public Schools · Economy · Government · Geography · Climate · Metropolitan Area