The tallest skyscraper in the United States is the Sears Tower. The most breathtaking photos from the construction of skyscrapers in New York

US skyscrapers are an essential symbol of the level of economic development of countries and visiting cards of cities, as well as their individual regions. They amaze with their shapes and sizes. Legends are composed about them and various historical facts of the period of their creation are still being revealed.

10 Most Significant High-Rise Buildings, US Skyscrapers of Past Centuries

1891 - Wainwright / Dankmar Adler and Louis Henry Sullivan

Among the first high-rise buildings in the world, it is Wainwright that stands out as the prototype of modern skyscrapers. The US building was built in 1891 by Louis Sullivan and his partner Dankmark Adler. The structure of the building is based on steel frames lined with bricks. It is believed that this is the first successful application of steel frame structures, which gave rise to its widespread use.

1902 - Flatiron Building / Daniel Hudson Burnham

One of the most widely recognized buildings in New York City, the Flatiron was a bold architectural design at the turn of the 20th century. Known for its triangular shape and located at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway. Due to the very unusual, flattened shape of the building, Flatiron gave the name to the entire area of Manhattan. The Beaux-Arts (fine arts) art style and detailing give the building a touch of the architectural mood characteristic of Europe at that time.

1913 - Woolworth Building / Cass Gilbert

Woolworth Building, innovative and elegant skyscraper usa early period, built in 1913, bringing iconic features to the architecture of New York. The building was a symbol of New York's growing economic dominance and was called the "Cathedral of Commerce". At the time, the completion of construction was considered the highest in the world. According to the original design, the building was supposed to reach 190.5 meters in height, but in the end, taking into account a number of factors and requirements of that time, the height of the building in the final design was 241 meters.

1930 - Chrysler Building / William Van Elen

The Chrysler Building, designed by William Van Elen, was the most prominent building in the United States and New York against the skyline due to its style and profile. Its height was 319.5 meters, which made it possible to consider the Chrysler Building the tallest building at that time. However, this record was broken just 11 months after the construction of the famous Empire State Building in 1931. The Chrysler Building is a classic example of the Art Deco style, with distinctive ornamentation that allowed it to become the distinctive emblem of Chrysler cars of the time.

1950 - UK Headquarters Johnson Wax / Frank Lloyd Wright

A corporate commitment to innovation, combined with Wright's penchant for imaginative design, produced groundbreaking and then-contested structures. The construction was connected with the expansion of the company, due to the extension of the tower next to the old building of the company, built ten years earlier. The construction of the tower, made of reinforced concrete, brick and glass, created a modern and elegant workspace and is now seen as a bold step in the development of the architecture of its time.

1958 - Seagram Building / Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Located in the heart of New York City, the Seagram Building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, embodies the graceful principles of modernism. The 38-story building on Park Avenue was Ludwig's first foray into high-rise office buildings. The aim of the project was to maximize the use of a limited area for construction, after previously demolished low-rise buildings. During the construction of this skyscrapers in the usa For the first time, the method of using a reinforced concrete frame to support the main supporting structure was applied. In addition to the design features, in order to reduce the negative effect on the appearance of the building due to the use of blinds, standard for all windows of their design, with three working positions, were used.

1961 - One Chase Manhattan Plaza / Gordon Bunshaft

Completed in 1961, the 60-story skyscraper by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a national leader in skyscraper design, exemplifies efficiency and functionality. The tower itself occupies about 30% of the entire territory of 1 hectare of the entire complex in the financial district of Manhattan. The building itself is constructed from readily available, inexpensive materials and is 248 meters high. The facade of the building is made of anodized aluminium, glass and steel.

1964 - Peabody Terrace / Josep Lewis Sert

Built in 1964 by the dean of the Graduate School of Design, Josep Lluis Sert. Peabody Terrace houses 1,500 graduate students, Harvard students, and their families. One of several Sert projects for the Harvard campus is a manifestation of his vision of the ideal city. Many elements, such as the combination of scale, use of blended space and aesthetic design influenced the result, but represent a departure from earlier forms of collaborative residential projects. Peabody Terrace is the prototype of a twentieth-century design and has become a model of modern residences, but criticized by neighbors and members of the general public for being unattractive and imposing in appearance. The complex consists of three 22-story towers and provides a high building density that meets the requirements of the university.

1984 - A-T-and-T Building (Sony Building) / Philip Johnson and John Burgee

One of the most important architectural projects of the past years. A skyscraper rising at 550 Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan, with an open gable at the top. Philip Johnson and John Burgee single-handedly turned the world of architecture upside down in 1984. Thanks to this building, the notion entered the world of architecture that every building could have its own “Chippendale Top”, the nickname she acquired for the similarity of the pediment to the classic tall chest of drawers, from the famous English designer Chippendale. And a large arch of 7 floors resembles large Italian arcades and leads away from the modern city deep into the building.

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For more than a century, it has been called the city of skyscrapers for a reason. We have selected a dozen of the most interesting from the many.

Skyscraper Trump Tower - Trump Tower. 725 Fifth Avenue at 56th Street

A real symbol of the 80s of the last century, dark mirror glass and concrete, glamor and lights. The 58-storey building, over 200 meters high, was built in 1983 by the architect Dera Skat next to the famous Tiffany's store. To get around New York's building restrictions, Donald Trump had to acquire "air rights" to the legendary jewelry store and connect his tower with an arcade to the adjacent IBM building, thus creating an atrium that was declared a public area. The atrium, with its famous illuminated waterfall and six-story mall, remains open to all visitors, while Trump Tower itself is inhabited by the rich and famous - the billionaire himself lives in a penthouse.

Skyscraper American Radiator Building. 40 West 40th Street at Bryant Park

The 23-story black and gold building of the American Radiator Company (which, however, produced not only radiators, but also other plumbing) never held the “highest” pennant, but almost immediately was recognized as one of the most beautiful. Built in 1924, the neo-Gothic skyscraper with art deco elements is also interesting because the architect Raymond Hood, who designed it, began with the design of decorative screens for those very radiators. Subsequently, Hood created many more famous buildings (including Rockefeller Center in New York) and served as the prototype for the protagonist of Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead by architect Peter Keating. The building itself in the early 1990s changed its profile and turned into a luxurious boutique hotel Bryant Park Hotel.

Skyscraper Chrysler Building - Chrysler Building. 405 Lexington Av

Building the headquarters of the Chrysler Automobile Corporation in 1930 was a matter of status for its founder, Walter Percy Chrysler. The whole of New York watched with bated breath the competition between the two construction sites: Chrysler vaguely promised that its building would be the tallest in the city, although at a declared height of 230 meters the skyscraper was clearly inferior to the Bank of Manhattan, which was supposed to stretch 282 meters. However, the architect William van Alen, as it turned out, kept an ace - but not up his sleeve, but inside the walls under construction. There, in secret from everyone, a giant spire was built, designed in the style of the then car radiators, which made it possible to reach a height of 318 meters and thus become the tallest building not only in America, but in the world (before that, the record was held for several decades with its three hundreds of meters). The record, however, lasted only a year - already in 1931 the New York sky pierced Empire State Building.

Skyscraper Flatiron Building (Iron) - Flatiron Building. 175 5th Av

Flatiron Building (Iron) Flatiron Building

One of New York City's most famous and most postcarded buildings, it has never held a height record or any other - except, perhaps, for originality. The 93-meter 21-story skyscraper, built from 1901 to 1903 according to the design of Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, is distinguished by an extremely unusual shape: it is triangular in plan, for which it received the nickname “Iron”, which has stuck to the entire block over the past century. Officially, however, the house was to be called the Fuller Building, named after the construction company that ordered it for its headquarters. In the end, even the representatives of "Fuller" reconciled, and the skyscraper officially received the name "Iron". After the construction, the townspeople made a bet for quite a long time: in which direction the debris would fly when the strong winds in this part of the city tumbled down. Iron', but somehow it worked out. It is curious that the "Iron" has a namesake in Moscow, however, only five floors - the building of the former "Kulakov" rooming house in Pevchesky Lane, on the once infamous Khitrovka.

Skyscraper Empire State Building - Empire State Building. 350 5th Av

Opened May 1, 1931 Empire State Building was one of the last skyscrapers erected in New York during the Great Depression. Apparently, thanks to her (and the ensuing world war and other troubles), this 381-meter giant, occupying an entire block, managed to maintain the title of the tallest building in the world for more than forty years, until the famous twin towers of the World Trade Center were erected in 1972. The construction of the Empire State Building proceeded, as they would say in the Soviet Union, at an accelerated pace - the skyscraper was completed in just a year and 45 days. However, the owners of the country of the Soviets could only bite their elbows and dream of the Palace of Soviets with a hundred-meter statue of Ilyich on top. The Empire State Building is also crowned with an architectural decoration - a spire, but unlike the purely decorative leader of the proletariat, the "needle" had a functional purpose: according to the idea of the architect William F. Lang, airships were supposed to moor to it. The airships, however, very soon came to naught, but not a single King Kong has yet deprived the spire of his attention ...

Skyscraper Rockefeller Center - Rockefeller Center. Midtown Manhattan, 48th to 51st Street

Strictly speaking, famous rockefeller center- not a building, as many people think, but a whole complex of 19 skyscrapers, occupying almost nine hectares of land on Manhattan. Construction began at the height of the depression, in 1930, and lasted nine years - it is considered that this is the most ambitious architectural project of modern times. 40,000 workers took part in the construction of the complex, and the estimate was $ 250 million - a staggering amount for the 1930s (more than three billion in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation). To the originally erected 14 buildings in the style of art decks of the 60-70s, five more were added, designed in the so-called. international style.

Skyscraper Waldorf Astoria - Waldorf Astoria. 301 Park Avenue

The equal sign in the name of one of the main hotels in New York is not a typo. Before the opening of the new Astoria in October 1931, the largest hotel in the world at that time, the old Astoria also existed - the Empire State Building was erected in its place. The prehistory of its name was as follows: hotel cousins William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor IV opened a luxury hotel on Fifth Avenue in the early 1890s. In 1897, the hotels were connected by a corridor, and the sign "=" appeared in the name of the combined hotel, which was preserved even after Astoria moved to a new building. "" and to this day remains an exceptionally expensive and prestigious hotel. At one time, the hotel was the first in the world to offer a number of innovations that revolutionized the hotel business: for example, room service was offered for the first time, a separate entrance for ladies was canceled, and those who wished were given the opportunity to live in the hotel permanently. The famous composer Cole Porter lived here for several years, the legendary mafia Lucky Luciano constantly stayed in room 39c, and the chairman of the board of directors of Coca-Cola, James Farley, set a kind of record by living in the hotel for almost forty years, from 1940 until his death in 1976.

Skyscraper Woolworth Building - Woolworth Building. 233 Broadway

Millionaire Frank Winfield Woolworth, owner of the department store chain of the same name, adored the gothic architecture of Europe. He especially liked the British Parliament building, so when he decided to build a new headquarters for his firm, he commissioned the architect Cass Gilbert to create a neo-Gothic building with lots of windows. Opened in 1913, the 241-meter skyscraper (which was the world's tallest utilitarian building until 1930) is teeming with architectural excesses, from salamanders (a symbol of change) and owls (a symbol of wisdom) above the cathedral-like main entrance to interior design (for example, Woolworth's personal office was copied from Napoleon's office in the Compiègne Palace). In full accordance with the canons of medieval architecture, statues of the architect and the owner were also installed in the lobby of the building - however, as a tribute to the 20th century, the sculptural group is made in a deliberately caricature-humorous vein: Gilbert holds a model of a skyscraper in his hand, and Woolworth pays him for his work with coins.

Skyscraper Williamsburgh Savings Bank. 1 Hanson Place, at Flatbush Av

The 156-meter building, known colloquially as the Wiley, was the tallest building in Brooklyn for 80 years - this area is generally not as rich in skyscrapers as downtown Manhattan. Jokers then said that it was "the tallest building between Manhattan and Paris." The banking hall on the first floor was considered one of the best in design in New York - 19-meter ceilings and giant windows that allowed the use of natural light. The skyscraper is decorated with a huge clock, which until 1962 was the largest in the world. In addition to the bank, there were other companies in the building - 33 floors out of 34 were leased. In October 2005, the skyscraper was sold to new owners who converted it into a luxury residential complex - much to the displeasure of Brooklynites.

Skyscraper Park Row Building - Park Row Building. 15 Park Row

One of the oldest and most recognizable skyscrapers in New York 119-meter park row building opened in 1899 and was then the tallest "inhabited" building in the world. Under the characteristic copper double domes of the skyscraper, astronomical observatories were located for some time, and 950 offices were rented inside. The building serves as an office complex to this day. The limestone and brick finish was the model for many of New York City's iconic buildings of the early 20th century that followed.

Freedom Tower, New York

World Trade Center No. 1 appeared on the site of the destroyed World Trade Center complex and received the unofficial name of the Freedom Tower. The building is considered the highest in the Western Hemisphere, its height is 541 m. The building has 104 floors. Considered the 4th tallest skyscraper in the world. The building also has a 124 m high spire. A panoramic observation deck is open on the 102nd floor of the building.

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Willis Tower, Chicago

The Willis Tower is the second tallest building in the United States after the No. 1 World Trade Center in New York. Its height is 443 m, and the number of floors is 108. In addition, the Willis Tower became famous for its original observation deck. It is here that the so-called retractable booths are located, made of completely transparent materials. Thus, once in the cabin, you can "hang in the air" at a great height and enjoy the views of Chicago and Lake Michigan. The observation deck of the Willis Tower "Skydeck Chicago" has long been an independent landmark of the city.

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Trump Tower, Chicago

This skyscraper hotel is the second tallest building in Chicago. Its height is 423 m. The Trump Tower is located in a very picturesque place at the confluence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was originally planned that the tower would become the tallest building in the United States, but later the construction plans were partially reduced, and as a result, the tower of the American billionaire Donald Trump became only the second tallest building within Chicago. Inside the building are multiple trading floors, restaurants, a hotel, penthouses and other accompanying premises.

Empire State Building, New York

The Empire State Building was the first building in the world with more than 100 floors. The height of the building is 381 m. The skyscraper is the most popular tourist destination in New York, as it houses the famous observation deck on the 102nd floor. The building itself is made in the Art Deco style and is a US National Historic Landmark. It was here, by the way, that the final episodes of the famous American film Sleepless in Seattle were filmed.

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Williams Tower, Houston

The height of the 4th tallest building in Texas is 275 m. Unlike most skyscrapers in the world, which are traditionally built in business districts, this one is built at a distance from downtown Houston. For tourists, the building, in addition to its amazing streamlined forms, is also attractive with an observation deck on the 51st floor, which offers views of the administrative center of the state of Texas - Houston.

Renaissance Tower, Dallas

The fifth tallest building in Texas is the Renaissance Tower in Dallas. Its height is 270 m. The building gained particular popularity after the release of the cult series "Dallas" about the oil dynasties of Texas. The Renaissance Tower plays the role of an oil company that is featured throughout the series. The skyscraper is located in the business district of Dallas and is occupied mainly by office buildings. The building has 56 storeys, and there are also 2 underground floors in the building, where there are numerous shops and cafes.

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Transamerica, San Francisco

Transamerica is the tallest building in the city of San Francisco. Its height is 260 m, and its shape has original pyramidal outlines. Often, due to its architectural forms, Transamerica is simply called a tower-spire. The building has repeatedly become a backdrop for fantastic Hollywood films, the most famous of which is The Terminator. There is a business center inside the building.

John Hancock Tower, Boston

The John Hancock Tower has a unique shape. Unlike most skyscrapers in the world, which have a rectangular shape, the Hancock Tower is made in the form of a parallelogram. The height of the tower is 241 m, it has 60 floors, the facades of the building are fully glazed, which is why the effect of a mirror skyscraper floating in the air is created. The building received a prestigious architectural award for its unusual design.

The Sears Tower was built over 30 years ago. In 1974, the skyscraper became the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center in New York by 25 meters. For more than two decades, the Sears Tower held the lead and only in 1997 gave way to the Kuala Lumpur "twins" - the Petronas Towers.

Today, the Sears Tower is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent buildings in the world. Until now, this building remains the tallest skyscraper in the United States.

The height of the skyscraper is 443.2 m, the number of floors is 110. Construction began in August 1970, and completed on May 4, 1973. The chief architect is Bruce Graham, the chief designer (project engineer) is Fazlur Khan.

Upon its completion in 1974, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a skyscraper holding this record for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is now the tallest building in the United States and the ninth tallest building in the world.

The design of this giant skyscraper was born in the late 1960s. It was built for the Chicago company Sears Roebuck and Company, and was developed by specialists from the well-known construction company Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The "father" of the skyscraper was the architect Bruce Graham, who led this unprecedented project at that time, which, however, remains an outstanding masterpiece of technical thought today. And not only the height makes the Sears Tower remarkable.

There was a lot of controversy at one time around competitors for the title of the tallest building in the world. In 1998, the Petronas skyscrapers (in Kuala Lumpur) displaced the Sears Tower from the first line in the TOP 10 of the greatest buildings. All the fuss is due to the fact that the total height of the Sears Tower, including antennas, is over 500 meters, while the ends of the decorative Petronas spiers are only 452 meters away. from the earth. At first glance, it is obvious that the "twins" are much smaller than the Chicago giant. However, the commission, which determined the championship for the Kualalumpurs, did not think so. The fact is that the cyclopean height of Sears is a bit artificial - additional meters were added to the building by television antennas.

The roof of the Sears Tower is located at a height of 443 meters above the ground. The spiers of the Petronas Tower also add height to the skyscraper, but they are an inseparable structural element of the building, so experts took them into account when determining the overall size of the object. Now it becomes clear why the Taipei 101 skyscraper bypassed both the Sears Tower and Petronas - the roof of this giant is located 449 meters from the ground. Taipei 101's spire added extra feet to the building, with the record at 508 meters. Here is the arithmetic.

Before talking about the construction of a skyscraper, it is worth briefly mentioning the main characteristics of the building and voicing the most interesting figures. So, the cost of the Sears tower with a height of 443 meters was 150 million dollars - at that time it was quite an impressive amount. Today, the equivalent of the costs would be almost $1 billion, which is 1.5 times less than investments in the Taiwanese Tibei 101. However, the Sears company, which acted as the customer of the project, was one of the leading places in world trade and did not live in poverty.

It was planned to create several hundred thousand jobs in the premises of the Sears Tower, uniting the personnel of the corporation in one huge office. They decided to rent out some of the rooms, because the maintenance of the building cost a lot of money. The tenants did not want to huddle in tiny stuffy "bedbugs", therefore, in order to increase the commercial attractiveness of the tower, the designers were instructed to create a bright building with spacious halls and large office areas. It is clear that only high ceilings could provide light and air, and, consequently, the dimensions of the skyscraper should have been increased due to growth upwards.

In the 70s of the XX century in America there was a real boom in skyscrapers - skyscrapers grew like mushrooms after rain. So, the 110-story Sears promised to become the greatest building not only in Chicago, but also in the USA, and even in the whole world. In 1969, the very idea of building a giant tower was born, but the customers of the high-rise building were not driven by a desire for bragging, but by a purely practical interest. At the disposal of the developer was an area in one of the business districts of Chicago, barely exceeding 5,000 square meters. m.

The bulk of the concerns for the development of the skyscraper fell on the Skidmore architectural bureau. In April 1971, construction entered an active phase, and in the spring of 1973 the building was fully completed. Amazing pace, right?
The uniqueness of the Sears Tower is that, if desired, this skyscraper could be “extended”, increasing additional floors - this is a feature of the pipe architecture. The main building material that went into the construction of the Sears Tower was steel. Steel is known to be a very durable material. To form a skyscraper, load-bearing structures were used, consisting of welded pipes with a square section. Initially, it was planned to introduce 15 such pipes, because in addition to offices in the Sears Tower, a hotel was planned. However, later the hotel was excluded from the project, and the number of pipes was decided to be reduced to 9. These giant pipes, made into a single stepped conglomerate in a 3x3 arrangement, allowed the building to effectively withstand the wind.

In 1969 Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the largest retailer in the world with approximately 350,000 employees. The management decided to gather thousands of workers in offices under the roof of a building in Chicago's west business district. The construction of the building required 279,000 sq. m of land, and given the projected expansion - and even more, so that the architects of "Skidmore" knew that this building would be one of the largest office buildings in the world. Sears management decided in advance that the original building should be carefully planned to accommodate an army of sales staff, while the unoccupied space left for future growth was planned to be leased to small firms until Sears needed it. . To this end, it was necessary to make small rooms with a high ratio of the area of window openings to the area of the room in order to increase their attractiveness for future tenants. A small area required a greater height of the building. The architects of Skidmore proposed a design for a tower with a footprint of 5,000 sq. m, gradually tapering upward by a series of bevels, giving the Sears Tower an exceptionally impressive stepped look. As Sears' expansion plans grew optimistically, the tower passed the 100-story mark and overtook the unfinished World Trade Center in New York for the title of world's tallest building. Limited in height, not by the laws of physics or lack of imagination, but rather by US Federal Aviation Administration limits to protect air traffic, the Sears Tower was funded entirely by the Sears Corporation and was to be topped with two antennas for local television and radio broadcasts. Sears and the City of Chicago approved the project and the first armature was installed in April 1971. Construction was completed in May 1973 at a cost of approximately $150 million at the time, which would have been equivalent to $950 million in 2005. For comparison, the Taipei 101 skyscraper built in 2004 in Taipei would have cost about 1 billion 640 million dollars in 2005. Performance Be that as it may, Sears' optimistic growth expectations did not materialize.

Rivalry with familiar competitors (such as "Montgomery Ward") continued, and then the company was surpassed in influence by other giants of retail trade: "Kmart", "Kohl" s and "Wal-Mart". In the 70s, when the company lost market share and management became even more cautious, the Sears Tower did not have the future that Sears had planned.The tower stood half empty for about 10 years, while in Chicago in the 80s more and more office buildings.The company was forced to mortgage its own building.In 1993, Sears began downsizing its office space in the Sears Tower and by 1995 completely vacated the building, moving to a new building in Hoffman Estates in Illinois.Since that time, the Sears Tower changed owners several times, but Sears Corporation retained the rights to its name.It is now an office building that rents space to more than 100 different companies, including large law firms, insurance companies AI and financial services firms.

The stepped structure of the Sears Tower is only to a small extent a design whim of the architect, mostly it plays a purely functional role. So, 9 square pipes are located at different heights. The area occupied by one pipe is 22x22 meters. The tubular design is an invention of design engineer Fazlur Kahn. He calculated that each individual square pipe takes on part of the strong wind load and therefore the pressure on the building is distributed evenly. As you can see in the photo, not all pipes have the same height, only 2 of them reach the very last floor, while 3 pieces rise to the 90th, 2 more pieces end on the 66th, and 2 are interrupted on the 50th floor. That is, the building begins to narrow from the 50th floor.

The skyscraper is crowned with 2 television antennas, each about 88 meters high. It should be noted that the final height of the Sears was not limited by technical capabilities, but by the regulations of the US Air Force. Just a more powerful structure would be a serious obstacle in the path of aircraft. In the 70s of the XX century, pipe design was innovative. In order to provide the building with the necessary stability, a solid foundation was organized, supported by 114 piles driven deep into the ground. The weight of the tower is truly colossal - more than 440 million pounds!

To strengthen the tubular load-bearing structures, a network of beams and columns was used in the outer walls. Black aluminum was used to finish the skyscraper, which is distinguished by plasticity, good decorative qualities and lightness. The windows were tinted to avoid overheating of the building. For ventilation at the level of 29,64,88,104 floors, large ventilation grilles were made, which also perform a decorative function, covering the beam trusses. 104 high-speed elevators run inside the building, dividing the skyscraper into 3 zones. The building has a system of signs to help people find their way around. The Sears Tower has a special fire extinguishing system that works automatically, in addition, the building itself is built of refractory material, so even in the event of a fire, it is not in danger of collapse.

The steel frame of the skyscraper is clad in black anodized aluminum (total area is 113,312 sqm) with more than 16,100 dark bronze glass windows. Six automatic washing machines clean them 8 times a year.

The total mass of the building is 222,500 tons. It stands on 114 stone-filled concrete piles driven deep into a solid rock base. The lowest level of the tower lies 13 m below street level. More than 600,000 cubic meters of concrete went into pouring the foundation - this amount would be enough to build an 8-lane five-mile freeway. 3220 km of electric cable was laid in the building. And telephone cables (their length is 69,200 km) can wrap our entire planet around the equator 1.75 times.

The construction of the Sears Tower was completed on May 3, 1973. Its total cost was more than $150 million. At the height of construction, up to 2,400 workers worked here.

The area of office space inside the huge building is more than 418,000 square meters. m; that's more than 57 football fields. The highest functional floor of the building is at a height of 436 m. The Sears Tower elevator system includes 106 high-speed elevators, including 16 double-deck express elevators. At a speed of 488 meters per minute, they deliver passengers to the two upper lobbies, from where they are transported to the floors by local lifts. The complex is designed for 12,000 people, about 25,000 people visit the building every day.

Due to fluctuations in the real estate market, the huge tower remained partially empty several times. However, in recent years, the Sears Tower has again become one of the most prestigious buildings in Chicago. However, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York, the owners of many companies lost their desire to rent offices in high-rise buildings. The Sears Tower is currently occupied at about 88 percent of the space. Some business leaders take extra precautions, sometimes quite unusual ones. So, the president of one company occupying the 88th floor of a skyscraper bought parachutes for his employees: in case they suddenly have to urgently leave the building.

The Sears Tower is one of Chicago's most popular attractions. About 1.5 million tourists visit it every year. The observation deck is located at around 412 m. It offers a breathtaking panorama of Chicago and the surrounding area, lying at a distance of 70-80 km from the city. They say that on a clear day from the tower you can see four states at once - Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. In the old days, tourists who wanted to climb the Sears Tower observation deck were not checked. Today, incoming checks are even more thorough than at the airport. In addition, about a dozen police officers patrol the perimeter of the building, and parking cars near the skyscraper is completely prohibited. These are necessary security measures after the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings in New York.

In addition to its main functions, the Sears Tower serves as a television and radio broadcaster. In March 2000, it was modernized. Now, four combined antennas, each 9 m high, are installed on the tower at the four corners of the roof. This addition made it possible to provide digital television to the entire Chicago area. There are plans to install additional 7-meter broadcast antennas on the roof of the Sears Tower. This measure will allow the tower to remain in the top line of record-breaking skyscrapers for some time.

In March 2004, reports surfaced that the insurance company MetLife Inc., which had owned the tower for the past 15 years, had decided to sell the Sears Tower.

One of the tallest buildings in the United States - Sears Tower in Chicago - invites tourists to tickle their nerves. Four glass balconies, collectively called Ledge, installed on the western side of the Skydeck observation deck, will allow tourists to look at the city in a new way.

And thanks to the transparent floor, not a single detail of the surrounding landscape will escape their eyes. The balconies are installed at the height of the 103rd floor of the skyscraper, each of them can simultaneously accommodate up to 5 people. They are made of heavy-duty three-layer glass and are able to withstand weights up to 5 tons. At the same time, the thickness of each layer of glass is only about 1.3 centimeters, and the thickness of the glass walls themselves is about 4 centimeters. The balconies have a retractable design, which will allow for easy cleaning and maintenance of the skyscraper.

Interesting facts about the Sears Tower

The skyscraper collapses in the documentary "Life After People" after 200 years.

The building is featured in the movie Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.

The area occupied by the Sears Tower is equal to an 8-lane highway.

The steel used to build the skyscraper would have been enough to produce 50,000 cars.

There are so many telephone wires in the building that they could wrap around the globe 1.75 times!

From the highest observation deck "Skydeck" on a clear day you can see 4 states of the USA: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

6 automated washing machines are installed on the roofs, which clean 16,100 windows of the Tower every 1.5 months.
The total area of the Sears Tower is equal to 57 football fields.

The Sears Tower antennas receive lightning strikes at least 600 times a year, and even more often!

The Sears Tower has toilets 103 meters above the ground - these water closets are recognized as the highest in the world.

The top of the Willis Tower is considered the highest point in Illinois. The tip of the tower's antenna reaches 527.3 m above street level or 708 m above sea level, the roof height is 442.1 m above street level or 623 m above sea level, the "sky deck" on the 103rd floor of the building is at a height of 412 m above street level or 593 m above sea level, Walker Drive - the main entrance is 181 m above sea level. (The highest natural point in Illinois is Charles Hill, 376 meters above sea level.)

The building is tilted to the west by 10 cm due to the somewhat asymmetrical design, which creates an unequal load on the foundation.

The design for Willis Tower includes nine square steel tubes, 3 blocks, 3 tubes. Willis Tower is the first building for which this project was used. The design allows, if desired or necessary, to complete more floors from above.

The restrooms on the 103rd floor are located 412 meters above street level.

Tourists who come to Chicago consider it their duty to visit the highest point in the city - the Skydeck observation deck. It is located on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower, 412 meters from the base of the building. Skydeck is taller than Chicago's other famous tourist attraction, the observatory at the John Hancock Center. In fairness, we should also mention the second observation deck - it is located on the 99th floor and plays the role of a spare, being operated during preventive maintenance on Skydeck. The view from the observatory is magnificent! In good weather, you can see the surroundings at a distance of 40-50 miles, admire the modern architecture of Chicago and even look with a telescope into other states of America - Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Fiction? Not! The way up takes no more than 1 minute, and the elevators are very reminiscent of shuttles, a kind of space shuttle, equipped with 50-inch flat-screen monitors, from which a view of the receding Earth is broadcast. In total, 2 high-speed elevators run to the observatory. Skydeck is not only an observation deck, but also an interactive museum that helps visitors to Chicago get acquainted with the history of the city. In special electronic kits, everyone will be able to take a virtual tour of the capital of Illinois.

On windy days, visitors to the observatory can feel the vibration of the building in their own skin. In the Sears Tower there are not only offices, but also restaurants, cafes, bars, where you can taste the most delicious dishes of North American, European, Mexican cuisine or have a quick bite to eat, discussing the beauties of the "windy city" you have seen. Every year, the Sears Tower and Skydeck are visited by more than 1 million tourists from different parts of the world. For vacationers there is a separate entrance from the south side of the tower.