Willis Tower History Quiz

Willis Tower History

• Willis Tower is known as Sears Tower and was built by Sears Roebuck and Company in the 1970s.
• Sears began as a mail-order company selling products through catalogs.
• Sears began opening retail stores in 1925, which eventually surpassed catalog sales.
• Sears was the largest retailer in the United States until the 1980s.
• Sears hired Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design its new building.
• The tower was built in Chicago, a city known for its skyscrapers.
• The West Loop, where the building was built, was an underdeveloped area near the Chicago Loop.
• The building is a 3x3 square grid with each block being 75 feet across.
• Blocks taper off as the building Rises.
• A communication tower sits atop the building.
• The blocks have five columns per side every 15 feet.
• Trusses connect the blocks, providing stability and mechanical systems for the building.
• Construction involved a lot of steel.
• The wind can cause skyscrapers to flex a few inches.
• Trusses re-distribute loads to areas capable of taking them, especially the highest, asymmetrical sections.
• Sears required support from the city to be built in the center of Chicago.
• Richard Daley Sr., the mayor at the time, supported the construction, seeing the benefit of Sears' headquarters in the city.
• In 1955, the city lifted its height restriction, allowing for buildings 16 times taller than their lot area.
• Construction began in August 1970, with excavation removing 180,000 cubic feet of material.
• A concrete plant was built in the building's basement to cut down on transportation time and accelerate construction.
• Labor strikes and inclement weather delayed construction.
• The building reached the 77th floor in 1972, making it the tallest building in Chicago.
• The Sears Tower overtook the Empire State Building in height in 1973.
• A ceremony was held in May 1973 to commemorate the final beam being placed.
• Fires and accidents during construction resulted in five deaths.
• Sears moved into the building in 1973, but construction was not finished until the following year.
• The building reached 110 floors, including three basement floors at a height of 1,450 feet.
• Broadcast antennas were added in 1984, bringing the building's height to 1,729 feet.
• The Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world until the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia surpassed it in 1996.
• Sears started declining in the 1980s, branching off into other businesses like financing and real estate.
• Kmart became the largest retailer in the United States in 1992.
• Sears sold off subsidiaries and discontinued its catalog in 1993.
• Sears acquired Land's End in 2002.
• Kmart acquired Sears in 2005.
• Lands End split off from Sears in 2014.
• Sears filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
• The building was renamed Willis Tower in 2009 after the insurance broker Willis Group Holdings took over a majority of the office space.
• United Airlines is the building's largest tenant.
• The tower is equipped with 103 elevators, including 14 double-decked elevators.
• Double-decked elevators serve the sky lobbies at the 33rd and 34th floors and the 66th and 67th floors.
• Local elevators serve the 34th through the 103rd floors.
• Two elevators run directly from the lobby to the SkyDeck on the 103rd floor.
• The building has 16 escalators.
• The 103rd floor features the SkyDeck observation deck, the tallest observation deck in the United States.
• Renovations to the SkyDeck added four glass boxes, known as the "ledge."
• In 2014, the laminated glass flooring on one of the glass boxes cracked, but there were no deaths or injuries.

Climbing the Willis Tower

• The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) has been climbed on the outside by two individuals: Dan Goodwin in 1981 and a French urban climber in 1999.
• Dan Goodwin, wearing a homemade Spider-Man suit, climbed the tower using suction cups and sky hooks. He was arrested at the top after a seven-hour climb.
• The French urban climber ascended the building using only his bare hands and feet.
• There is a legal way to climb the tower, through the Skyrise Chicago charity event, which involves climbing the building's 103-story staircase.

The Building's Lower Levels

• The Franklin Street entrance to the building is six feet lower than the Wacker Drive entrance.
• The building has three basement levels with a total area of 400,000 square feet.
• The basements contain a cafeteria, commercial space, service areas, a loading dock, and a 150-spot parking garage.
• The building's base covers 463,000 square feet and includes two lobbies for tenants and visitors.
• The Wacker Drive Lobby features a 2019 artwork by Jacob Hashimoto titled "In the Heart of This Infinite Particle of Galactic Dust" which includes over 7,000 rice paper and resin discs.
• The commercial complex at the building's lowest stories is called the "Catalog" in reference to the Sears mail order catalogs of the past.
• The Catalog includes restaurants, a co-working space, and decorative details inspired by Chicago's building environment.

The Building's Historical Significance

• The Willis Tower is a prominent landmark in Chicago and holds historical significance.
• The speaker expresses personal fondness for the building, connecting it to his grandfather, who was a construction worker on the tower.
• Despite being formally called the Willis Tower, the name Sears Tower still prevails in public consciousness.
• The video concludes with a reference to a separate video about the building's rooftop.