MegaStructures - Willis Tower (Sears Tower) (National Geographic Documentary)

00:43:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rm1GiS6Rjc

概要

TLDRThe Sears Tower, now known as Willis Tower, is an iconic skyscraper in Chicago originally constructed as the headquarters for Sears Roebuck and Company. At 1,450 feet, it was the tallest building in the world from its completion in 1973 until it was surpassed by the Petronas Towers in 1998. The building features a unique bundled tube design, which was a breakthrough in structural engineering at the time, conceived by architects Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Khan. The tower includes 104 elevators and an impressive observation deck offering views across four U.S. states. Over the years, the building has been adapted for multiple uses beyond its original purpose and remains a signature part of Chicago's skyline.

収穫

  • 🏢 Originally constructed as the corporate headquarters for Sears Roebuck and Company.
  • 🏗️ Features a revolutionary bundled tube design by Fazlur Khan.
  • 📈 Held the title of the world's tallest building from 1973-1998.
  • 🌆 Offers a sky deck with views spanning four states.
  • 🔧 The construction involved innovative techniques and required precise coordination.
  • 💡 Deemed an architectural triumph, showcasing modern engineering.
  • 🚪 Post-9/11 security measures have been extensively upgraded.
  • 🚀 Evolving functions now serve a broad tenant base.
  • 📡 Home to the tallest antennas worldwide, extending its height.
  • 🌍 Remains a symbol of Chicago's architectural heritage.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video begins by describing the Sears Tower, a massive skyscraper in Chicago, North America, noting its impressive height of 1,450 feet and its status as the tallest building until 1998, when surpassed by the Petronas Towers. Visitors enjoy views extending to four states from its Skydeck, a popular attraction drawing over a million tourists every year. The tower's elevator system is highlighted for its speed and unique design, efficiently transporting thousands of visitors daily.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The narrative shifts to the history of Sears Roebuck and Company, its dominance in the retail market, and the inception of the Sears Tower as a testament to its success and growth. The company's vision for a sprawling headquarters led to comprehensive planning and data collection, resulting in a futuristic workspace intended to accommodate growth over several decades.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The third segment delves into the architectural innovation behind the Sears Tower, emphasizing the choice of Skidmore Owings and Merrill for their expertise in corporate building design. It discusses the problem of Quincy Street running through the building site and its resolution. The unique bundled tube structural strategy, developed by architect Fazlur Khan, is introduced and praised for its efficiency and potential to set height records.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Attention is then turned towards the construction process itself, documenting the logistical and engineering challenges involved. The utilization of prefabricated tree units allowed for quicker assembly of the building's steel skeleton, significantly speeding up construction. Notable is the story of an accident involving a falling steel column, which highlights the risks and innovative problem-solving on site.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The ongoing construction is further examined, noting both environmental challenges and the competitive drive spurred by other tall buildings, specifically the World Trade Center towers. Despite adversities like harsh weather and rumors of competing projects, the Sears Tower was topped off successfully in May 1973, solidifying its world's tallest status amid local pride and national attention.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    By 1974, the interior of Sears Tower was nearing completion. The video outlines the utilization of fireproofing materials, the construction of the aluminum and glass exterior, and the adaptation of the building's elevators and lobby to solve unique airflow and access challenges. Innovations made for tenant comfort and energy efficiency are spotlighted, showcasing the building's operational sophistication.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Transitioning to the decline of Sears' dominance, the video explains the retail market landscape shifts that forced Sears to lease excess space in their headquarters. The narrative shifts to the present, describing adaptations in building operations and security following the change in ownership and the increased global significance of terrorism threats post-2001.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:43:54

    The final segment wraps up by celebrating the Sears Tower's legacy. It highlights its ongoing status as an architectural icon and cultural symbol for Chicago, even amidst its comparative loss of the world's tallest building title. This segment underscores the pride of those who built and continue to work in the tower, solidifying its place in history as an enduring testament to human ingenuity and ambition.

もっと見る

マインドマップ

Mind Map

よくある質問

  • When did Sears Tower lose its title as the world's tallest building?

    In 1998, to the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.

  • How high is the Sears Tower?

    1,450 feet

  • What significant architectural feature does the Sears Tower have?

    The bundled tube design.

  • How many elevators does the Sears Tower have?

    104 elevators, including double-decker ones.

  • What was the original purpose of the Sears Tower?

    It was built to be the headquarters for Sears Roebuck and Company.

  • Who were the key architects behind the Sears Tower?

    Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

  • How long did it take to build the Sears Tower?

    Construction began in 1970 and completed in 1974.

  • What makes the observation deck of Sears Tower unique?

    Its sky deck offers views across four states on a clear day.

ビデオをもっと見る

AIを活用したYouTubeの無料動画要約に即アクセス！
字幕
en
オートスクロール:
  • 00:00:01
    more than 25,000 people walk into the
  • 00:00:04
    Sears Tower every day it takes 104
  • 00:00:08
    elevators some double-decker to
  • 00:00:11
    transport workers and visitors to the
  • 00:00:13
    110 floors of the tallest building in
  • 00:00:15
    North America
  • 00:00:18
    the Sears Tower was considered the
  • 00:00:19
    tallest building in the world until 1998
  • 00:00:22
    when the Petronas Towers in Malaysia
  • 00:00:24
    surpassed it by 33 feet but only with
  • 00:00:28
    the help of decorative spires
  • 00:00:32
    it rises 1,450 feet above the city of
  • 00:00:35
    Chicago and as one of the most
  • 00:00:37
    impressive observation decks in the
  • 00:00:39
    world when people come up to the search
  • 00:00:41
    our sky deck on a clear day they're able
  • 00:00:43
    to see up to 50 miles so you're really
  • 00:00:46
    not just seeing downtown Chicago you're
  • 00:00:48
    also seeing the rest of Illinois Indiana
  • 00:00:51
    Wisconsin and Michigan and it's just an
  • 00:00:54
    amazing amazing imbue and with the Sears
  • 00:00:57
    Tower being the tallest building in
  • 00:00:58
    Chicago you're looking down on this
  • 00:01:00
    amazing architectural mecca that is
  • 00:01:03
    Chicago
  • 00:01:07
    more than a million tourists come to
  • 00:01:10
    visit the Skydeck annually to take a
  • 00:01:12
    multimedia elevator ride up to the top
  • 00:01:15
    the search tower Observatory has some of
  • 00:01:17
    the most unique elevators in the world
  • 00:01:19
    first of all there are two of the
  • 00:01:20
    fastest at top speed they're going 1600
  • 00:01:23
    feet per minute and you start to levels
  • 00:01:26
    in the basement and come up to the
  • 00:01:27
    hundred and third floor in about 60
  • 00:01:29
    seconds 4.5 million square foot
  • 00:01:34
    skyscraper located in the heart of
  • 00:01:36
    Chicago's loop includes offices a
  • 00:01:39
    private dining Club conference
  • 00:01:41
    facilities a u.s. post office retail
  • 00:01:43
    stores and restaurants it is a length of
  • 00:01:48
    close to five football fields
  • 00:01:51
    there's 2232 steps to get to the top of
  • 00:01:55
    the building there's 796 laboratories it
  • 00:01:59
    takes 110 janitors
  • 00:02:01
    100 security guards and 25 engineers 3
  • 00:02:06
    electricians and dozens more to maintain
  • 00:02:09
    an operator the 50,000 miles of electric
  • 00:02:12
    wiring 25,000 miles of plumbing 80 miles
  • 00:02:17
    of elevator cable and a hundred and
  • 00:02:19
    forty five thousand light fixtures in
  • 00:02:21
    the Sears Tower
  • 00:02:24
    Tony Tony on has worked at the sears
  • 00:02:26
    tower for 13 years and is responsible
  • 00:02:29
    for operating the six automated window
  • 00:02:31
    washing rigs with scale the black
  • 00:02:33
    exterior to wash the 16100 windows for
  • 00:02:38
    washing the windows the window head will
  • 00:02:39
    jut against the window with this first
  • 00:02:41
    of squeegee knocking off the bulk of the
  • 00:02:43
    heavier dirt well then we have spray
  • 00:02:45
    nozzles behind it that spray water onto
  • 00:02:47
    the window then the brush will knock the
  • 00:02:49
    rest of the dirt loose and then we have
  • 00:02:51
    three squeegees behind that's connected
  • 00:02:53
    to a vacuum that vacuum the water off
  • 00:02:54
    the window as long as the air
  • 00:02:57
    temperature is above 25 degrees and the
  • 00:03:00
    winds don't kick up above 30 miles an
  • 00:03:01
    hour the windows are washed year-round
  • 00:03:04
    when you think about maintaining the
  • 00:03:07
    comfort level in a building this size
  • 00:03:11
    with so many floors you go on a Main
  • 00:03:15
    Street downstairs it could be 65 degrees
  • 00:03:19
    you come up to 78 floor where a work
  • 00:03:22
    there maybe only 50 degrees there is a
  • 00:03:26
    difference in temperature people don't
  • 00:03:28
    think that there's that the engineers
  • 00:03:30
    have to be involved to compensate for
  • 00:03:33
    the sniffing temperature in fact there
  • 00:03:35
    is a staff of operating engineers who
  • 00:03:37
    closely monitor the heating ventilating
  • 00:03:39
    and air-conditioning units located on
  • 00:03:41
    floors 29 to 33 64 to 66 88 to 90 and
  • 00:03:47
    104 to 109
  • 00:03:50
    these floors are considered hidden
  • 00:03:52
    because they can only be accessed by the
  • 00:03:54
    freight elevators
  • 00:03:59
    all the refrigeration for the entire
  • 00:04:02
    building comes from this location I have
  • 00:04:05
    a total of five chillers here these
  • 00:04:08
    chillers are equal to 48 hundred tons of
  • 00:04:11
    refrigeration now picture in your
  • 00:04:13
    apartment or in your bedroom you have a
  • 00:04:15
    one ton air-conditioner sitting through
  • 00:04:17
    your window one of these chillers are
  • 00:04:19
    equal to 48 hundred of those with 3000
  • 00:04:23
    thermostats throughout the building plus
  • 00:04:25
    the computers and lights used by the
  • 00:04:26
    10,000 tenants it's a wonder that the
  • 00:04:30
    Sears Tower has never lost power
  • 00:04:33
    in fact the to stand by 2100 kilowatt
  • 00:04:36
    generators which can supply enough
  • 00:04:38
    electricity to power 200 homes each have
  • 00:04:41
    never been used with that much potential
  • 00:04:44
    power the Sears Tower was built to last
  • 00:04:48
    and in 1968 when Sears Roebuck and
  • 00:04:52
    company decided to build a new
  • 00:04:54
    headquarters for its growing company it
  • 00:04:56
    was going to be built big Sears was the
  • 00:05:00
    dominant retailer in the country have
  • 00:05:02
    been number one for a long time and we
  • 00:05:03
    far exceeded the competition which in
  • 00:05:05
    those days was JCPenney and Montgomery
  • 00:05:08
    Ward and Sears growth was just
  • 00:05:11
    phenomenal but it was because after the
  • 00:05:14
    Second World War
  • 00:05:15
    Sears envisioned the use of the
  • 00:05:18
    automobile and the the advent of the
  • 00:05:20
    suburbs so we were building stores like
  • 00:05:22
    crazy on the fringe of cities and if
  • 00:05:26
    you're gonna be searing to be the
  • 00:05:27
    biggest you certainly can't build a
  • 00:05:29
    small building as your headquarters you
  • 00:05:31
    know and if you're the biggest biggest
  • 00:05:32
    retailer the biggest baddest on the
  • 00:05:34
    block you need a big place they needed
  • 00:05:36
    the space because they're just a huge
  • 00:05:38
    company but I think they were looking at
  • 00:05:40
    wanting to make a statement about 70
  • 00:05:44
    years earlier this big company got its
  • 00:05:46
    start in a small town called North
  • 00:05:48
    redwood Minnesota with a railroad
  • 00:05:50
    station agent named Richard W Sears
  • 00:05:53
    board with his job he created a
  • 00:05:56
    mail-order business and then a watch
  • 00:05:58
    company on the side
  • 00:06:00
    in 1887 after moving his business to
  • 00:06:03
    Chicago he placed an ad for a skilled
  • 00:06:06
    watchmaker and found Alva C Roebuck
  • 00:06:10
    later a partnership formed and by 1893
  • 00:06:15
    the two created Sears Roebuck and
  • 00:06:17
    Company a catalog business the catered
  • 00:06:20
    mostly to farmers in need of general
  • 00:06:22
    Goods so the catalog was right from the
  • 00:06:25
    beginning there were everything was done
  • 00:06:27
    through the mail and registers know how
  • 00:06:29
    to do that because of his experience
  • 00:06:30
    with the railroad so you had to move
  • 00:06:32
    material and he's the mail and that sort
  • 00:06:34
    of thing business grew so fast that by
  • 00:06:37
    the turn of the century
  • 00:06:38
    Sears least additional buildings all
  • 00:06:40
    around Chicago and constructed a
  • 00:06:42
    building affectionately named by Sears
  • 00:06:44
    employees the great works a 40-acre five
  • 00:06:49
    million dollar campus like complex on
  • 00:06:51
    the residential west side of Chicago
  • 00:06:54
    when the building was built it actually
  • 00:06:56
    was the largest commercial space in the
  • 00:06:58
    United States and from Otis and it might
  • 00:07:00
    have been the largest in the world which
  • 00:07:02
    is gives you an idea of just how of the
  • 00:07:04
    magnitude of what Sears was doing you
  • 00:07:07
    know how their business had expanded by
  • 00:07:09
    the size of their of the bill density
  • 00:07:10
    they occupied but even the great works
  • 00:07:13
    wasn't big enough to contain Sears in
  • 00:07:17
    1968 with over 7,000 employees scattered
  • 00:07:21
    around 10 locations in Chicago
  • 00:07:23
    Sears chairman Gordon Metcalf decided to
  • 00:07:26
    bring the company under one very large
  • 00:07:28
    roof
  • 00:07:32
    since the building was going to be
  • 00:07:33
    constructed by its owner for the
  • 00:07:35
    company's own use
  • 00:07:36
    Sears planned from the inside out before
  • 00:07:39
    even selecting an architect
  • 00:07:41
    they hired SLS environ etics an interior
  • 00:07:44
    design firm from New York to perform
  • 00:07:47
    studies on how much space Sears really
  • 00:07:49
    needed we want to know how much space
  • 00:07:51
    would we need both initially when we
  • 00:07:54
    moved in and also 30 years down the road
  • 00:07:56
    because it was planned that this
  • 00:07:58
    building would be big enough to
  • 00:07:59
    encompass our growth for 30 years and
  • 00:08:02
    environ Attucks was very much involved
  • 00:08:03
    in that process of planning then later
  • 00:08:06
    on they were involved in determining how
  • 00:08:08
    the Sears floors would lay out how
  • 00:08:11
    they'd be configured the relationship
  • 00:08:12
    between departments and so on after
  • 00:08:15
    conducting interviews with department
  • 00:08:17
    heads based on detailed questionnaires
  • 00:08:19
    and taking meticulous inventory of all
  • 00:08:21
    the existing furniture and equipment
  • 00:08:23
    environ etics fit its data into a
  • 00:08:25
    computer to analyze the company's total
  • 00:08:29
    anatomy literally there were 90 or 200
  • 00:08:32
    interviews that were then converted into
  • 00:08:36
    space requirements for every individual
  • 00:08:39
    listed in those questionnaires for
  • 00:08:42
    example a buyer would be a hundred and
  • 00:08:44
    fifty square feet a vice president would
  • 00:08:47
    be three hundred square feet where as a
  • 00:08:49
    clerical worker would be 50 square feet
  • 00:08:51
    so you had all of these projections and
  • 00:08:54
    you moved them out into the future and
  • 00:08:56
    that's what led to Sears deciding that
  • 00:08:59
    in 30 years they would need three and a
  • 00:09:02
    half million square feet and that became
  • 00:09:04
    the size of the project even though at
  • 00:09:07
    the time we were going to move in we'd
  • 00:09:09
    only need 2 million square feet armed
  • 00:09:12
    with computer analyzed growth
  • 00:09:13
    projections Sears left the suburbs and
  • 00:09:15
    chose a 3 acre site in the garment
  • 00:09:17
    district on the southwest edge of the
  • 00:09:19
    loop on which to build their future
  • 00:09:21
    headquarters we came downtown looked at
  • 00:09:23
    a number of sites but the one that was
  • 00:09:25
    finally chosen was almost ideal in terms
  • 00:09:27
    of public transportation it had access
  • 00:09:30
    to all the suburban railroads and also
  • 00:09:32
    the bus network so you couldn't probably
  • 00:09:34
    have found a better place in terms of
  • 00:09:36
    letting your employees get to work
  • 00:09:39
    and most advantageous way they were
  • 00:09:42
    loyal to Chicago and so they wanted to
  • 00:09:45
    stay in Chicago and they felt that if
  • 00:09:47
    they stayed in Chicago they were going
  • 00:09:48
    to be able to attract the best talent
  • 00:09:51
    Sears was looking for talented
  • 00:09:53
    architects as well as talented employees
  • 00:09:56
    and where better to look than the
  • 00:09:58
    birthplace of skyscrapers Chicago after
  • 00:10:03
    all where else could one find a designer
  • 00:10:06
    bold enough to plan a building great
  • 00:10:08
    enough to become the home of the world's
  • 00:10:11
    biggest store
  • 00:10:15
    the Sears Tower building site had one
  • 00:10:17
    problem Quincy Street ran through it for
  • 00:10:20
    2.7 million dollars
  • 00:10:22
    Chicago sold that section of Quincy
  • 00:10:23
    Street to Sears and the problem was
  • 00:10:25
    solved the Sears Tower will return on
  • 00:10:28
    modern marvels by the late 60s Sears had
  • 00:10:33
    grown to become the number one retailer
  • 00:10:35
    in the world
  • 00:10:38
    as a result they had outgrown their
  • 00:10:41
    current headquarters and we're now ready
  • 00:10:43
    for a new home
  • 00:10:46
    a great deal of work went into choosing
  • 00:10:50
    the building site but the choice of who
  • 00:10:53
    would design their new home came
  • 00:10:55
    effortlessly Skidmore was chosen as the
  • 00:10:57
    architect because at the time they were
  • 00:11:00
    the preeminent corporate builders of
  • 00:11:02
    office buildings in this country they
  • 00:11:04
    have done a number of great buildings
  • 00:11:06
    and they had the most talent that
  • 00:11:08
    distinction was to the credit of two
  • 00:11:09
    partners at Skidmore Owings and Merrill
  • 00:11:12
    Bruce Graham and innovative an outspoken
  • 00:11:15
    architect in Vossler Khan a modest but
  • 00:11:18
    brilliant structural engineer Bruce and
  • 00:11:21
    foz collaborated quite closely in the
  • 00:11:24
    design of a number of buildings
  • 00:11:26
    throughout the 1960s and eventually it
  • 00:11:29
    led to the design of the John Hancock
  • 00:11:32
    which is a very tall building it was
  • 00:11:34
    this kind of dynamic energy that existed
  • 00:11:37
    between the two of them do often met
  • 00:11:40
    outside of work to discuss different
  • 00:11:42
    ideas and while eating lunch one
  • 00:11:44
    afternoon he hit on the design that
  • 00:11:46
    would become the Sears Tower we were
  • 00:11:49
    pursuing the idea of the bundle tube
  • 00:11:51
    system and foz was trying to describe
  • 00:11:54
    this to Bruce and finally Bruce says I
  • 00:11:56
    think I understand what you're saying
  • 00:11:58
    and Bruce was a smoker and took out his
  • 00:12:01
    pack of cigarettes and took out a number
  • 00:12:03
    of cigarettes and kind of held them in
  • 00:12:05
    his hand and had them coming to
  • 00:12:07
    different heights and as far as if this
  • 00:12:09
    in fact was his idea if this is what he
  • 00:12:11
    was thinking the system might look like
  • 00:12:13
    from an architectural standpoint from a
  • 00:12:15
    visual standpoint and phos said that's
  • 00:12:17
    exactly right the idea of using tube
  • 00:12:20
    construction was just starting to gain
  • 00:12:22
    momentum in the architectural world up
  • 00:12:26
    until about 1960 most buildings were
  • 00:12:29
    built with very wide spacing of columns
  • 00:12:32
    and long spans between them and these
  • 00:12:35
    were called frame buildings and that was
  • 00:12:37
    the system that was used for many many
  • 00:12:39
    years steel frame construction relied
  • 00:12:42
    heavily on internal support columns
  • 00:12:43
    embracing to bear all of the structural
  • 00:12:46
    loads
  • 00:12:47
    besides a number of these support
  • 00:12:49
    columns directly correlated with the
  • 00:12:51
    height of the building as buildings
  • 00:12:53
    became taller we realize that in fact
  • 00:12:56
    this frame system was becoming very
  • 00:12:59
    inefficient as can be demonstrated by
  • 00:13:01
    the Empire State Building with its very
  • 00:13:03
    large quantity of structural steel
  • 00:13:07
    Basler Kahn was best known in the
  • 00:13:09
    architectural world as the father of
  • 00:13:11
    tubular construction his idea was to
  • 00:13:15
    bring the exterior columns closer
  • 00:13:16
    together so that the columns would act
  • 00:13:18
    like a wall in the perimeter of the
  • 00:13:20
    building this would minimize the need
  • 00:13:23
    for massive support columns in the
  • 00:13:24
    center of the building the Hancock
  • 00:13:27
    building as well as the World Trade
  • 00:13:29
    Center buildings were both designed
  • 00:13:30
    using this new construction method
  • 00:13:35
    the idea for Sears Tower was since this
  • 00:13:38
    was such a large building the tube
  • 00:13:40
    started to become inefficient because it
  • 00:13:43
    was so wide and so deep so the idea was
  • 00:13:47
    why not take multiple tubes and put them
  • 00:13:51
    together bundle them and so Sears Tower
  • 00:13:54
    if you look at a floor plan is a series
  • 00:13:57
    of nine tubes three by three that are
  • 00:14:01
    bundled together at the base of the
  • 00:14:03
    building are nine tubes two of the tubes
  • 00:14:06
    end at the 50th floor two more tubes end
  • 00:14:10
    at the 66th floor and three tubes drop
  • 00:14:14
    off at the 90th floor leaving only two
  • 00:14:17
    remaining tubes to proceed to the top
  • 00:14:19
    this bundle tube concept very easily
  • 00:14:23
    enabled the architects to create this
  • 00:14:26
    this modulation of space as they went up
  • 00:14:28
    and the purpose of that was Sears
  • 00:14:31
    required very large floors for their
  • 00:14:34
    function but they were only going to
  • 00:14:36
    initially occupy half the building
  • 00:14:38
    the remaining half for the upper half
  • 00:14:40
    was going to be leased to tenants so the
  • 00:14:43
    idea of dropping off these various tubes
  • 00:14:46
    then resulted in a smaller floor plan
  • 00:14:50
    which gave more perimeter offices and
  • 00:14:52
    was therefore much more attractive on
  • 00:14:55
    the leasing market the bundled tubes as
  • 00:14:58
    well as the ingenious use of step backs
  • 00:15:00
    set the Sears Tower design apart from
  • 00:15:03
    earlier skyscrapers breaking records was
  • 00:15:06
    just an afterthought the decision to
  • 00:15:09
    become the tallest building was not part
  • 00:15:12
    of the initial program but as you
  • 00:15:15
    started to build floors that were
  • 00:15:17
    smaller than the 50,000 square-foot
  • 00:15:20
    Sears floors you started to build
  • 00:15:21
    smaller ones to attract tenants you
  • 00:15:23
    started to push upward to encompass the
  • 00:15:25
    three and a half million square feet
  • 00:15:28
    soon the Skidmore Owings and Merrill
  • 00:15:29
    team found themselves with the structure
  • 00:15:32
    it was just flirting with a world record
  • 00:15:34
    I went into a meeting with most of the
  • 00:15:38
    Sears executives and the architects in
  • 00:15:41
    which there were a number of cardboard
  • 00:15:44
    models and then out of a bag Bruce who
  • 00:15:46
    was the consummate salesman pulled out
  • 00:15:48
    this walnut model and put it on the
  • 00:15:51
    table and suggested that we were so
  • 00:15:53
    close to the ultimate so close to the
  • 00:15:56
    world's tallest building that we should
  • 00:15:58
    consider going for the brass ring and
  • 00:16:00
    the Sears executives almost broke into
  • 00:16:06
    applause I mean they were smiles all
  • 00:16:07
    around the table just a few weeks later
  • 00:16:10
    on July 27th 1970 Sears management
  • 00:16:14
    publicly unveiled the model for the
  • 00:16:16
    Sears Tower
  • 00:16:18
    a model for a building that would reach
  • 00:16:20
    fourteen hundred and fifty feet into the
  • 00:16:22
    sky the model the tallest building in
  • 00:16:26
    the world the public was pretty excited
  • 00:16:29
    about it
  • 00:16:29
    and I think most most of the excitement
  • 00:16:32
    came from the fact that we were one up
  • 00:16:35
    on New York Chicago is the birthplace of
  • 00:16:37
    the skyscrapers that always prided
  • 00:16:39
    itself on its tall buildings and that
  • 00:16:42
    tanda was stolen by New York the World
  • 00:16:45
    Trade Center buildings were currently
  • 00:16:46
    under construction in New York they had
  • 00:16:49
    been designed to be the tallest in the
  • 00:16:50
    world and now the competition was on in
  • 00:16:55
    Chicago was poised to bring the title
  • 00:16:57
    home
  • 00:17:03
    Brown was broken in August of 1970
  • 00:17:07
    we started almost immediately I didn't
  • 00:17:10
    have finished working drugs I have
  • 00:17:12
    finished working drawings close to the
  • 00:17:15
    day that we would start that particular
  • 00:17:18
    phase of the project so that the
  • 00:17:19
    foundation drawings were finished before
  • 00:17:21
    anything else and that's when we started
  • 00:17:23
    with foundations by midwinter work on
  • 00:17:27
    the foundation site was well underway
  • 00:17:34
    the foundation plans called for a
  • 00:17:36
    three-foot thick wall to be dug around
  • 00:17:38
    the perimeter of the building site
  • 00:17:41
    bentonite clay slurry an aqueous mixture
  • 00:17:44
    of insoluble clay was poured into the
  • 00:17:46
    excavation panels as they were done to
  • 00:17:48
    prevent ground collapse and water
  • 00:17:50
    infiltration the panels reached over
  • 00:17:53
    five storeys into the ground the slurry
  • 00:17:56
    was later displaced by concrete have
  • 00:17:58
    pumped out of the foundation wall with a
  • 00:18:02
    concrete foundation wall in place the
  • 00:18:05
    entire site was then excavated to the
  • 00:18:07
    depth of over 50 feet to complete the
  • 00:18:11
    foundation 114 reinforced concrete
  • 00:18:14
    caissons which varied in diameter from 6
  • 00:18:16
    to 10 feet had to be dug an additional
  • 00:18:19
    50 feet into the earth only the tallest
  • 00:18:22
    buildings in Chicago are required to go
  • 00:18:25
    down to bedrock because of the load and
  • 00:18:27
    what these are they're drilled shafts
  • 00:18:30
    that extend down to the rock there's a
  • 00:18:34
    steel jacket and then they're filled
  • 00:18:36
    with concrete and there's one of these
  • 00:18:39
    located under each column
  • 00:18:42
    five foot thick concrete matt was bored
  • 00:18:44
    at the bottom of the excavation site
  • 00:18:47
    this map tied all of the caissons
  • 00:18:49
    together and became the bottom floor of
  • 00:18:52
    the Sears Tower
  • 00:18:54
    with the roots of the superstructure
  • 00:18:55
    planted firmly in the ground the Sears
  • 00:18:58
    Tower was ready to soar
  • 00:19:02
    one of the architectural design ideas
  • 00:19:04
    that was considered for the new sears
  • 00:19:06
    headquarters was a large square building
  • 00:19:08
    it was just 80 stories tall
  • 00:19:10
    this shorted Stout design was referred
  • 00:19:12
    to as the pig the Sears Tower will
  • 00:19:16
    return on modern marvels by June 1971
  • 00:19:22
    with the Sears Tower Foundation firmly
  • 00:19:25
    in place the iron workers were called in
  • 00:19:27
    to do what they do best build into the
  • 00:19:30
    sky
  • 00:19:34
    today these men still take pride in
  • 00:19:36
    their contribution to the Chicago
  • 00:19:38
    skyline mainly the ironwork design the
  • 00:19:43
    Sears building with all members of
  • 00:19:44
    Chicago Local Union number one but there
  • 00:19:48
    are also iron workers came from all over
  • 00:19:50
    the country who wanted the opportunity
  • 00:19:53
    to work here and say have the bragging
  • 00:19:55
    rights to say they worked on the tallest
  • 00:19:57
    building
  • 00:20:00
    their jobs were made a little easier in
  • 00:20:03
    the interest of time and efficiency the
  • 00:20:05
    columns and girders would be welded
  • 00:20:07
    together off-site at the fabrication
  • 00:20:09
    plant
  • 00:20:12
    these prefabricated tree units were
  • 00:20:14
    delivered to the site to be razed and
  • 00:20:16
    bolted together the steel system was
  • 00:20:20
    just wonderful I mean it went together
  • 00:20:22
    as smoothness so the columns themselves
  • 00:20:25
    had half of a girder attached to it so
  • 00:20:30
    that you had the long column and then
  • 00:20:32
    you had two floors of girders sticking
  • 00:20:35
    out transporting the three units was no
  • 00:20:39
    small task the largest width that could
  • 00:20:42
    be transported through the streets of
  • 00:20:43
    Chicago was ten feet this width was too
  • 00:20:46
    narrow to be used effectively in the
  • 00:20:48
    building the fabricators came up with an
  • 00:20:52
    ingenious plan of skewing the units at a
  • 00:20:54
    45 degree angle on specially modified
  • 00:20:56
    trucks with the girders hanging just
  • 00:20:58
    inches off the ground between the tires
  • 00:21:03
    they could now increase the size of the
  • 00:21:05
    units to 15 by 26 feet and still make
  • 00:21:09
    the journey to the job site with little
  • 00:21:10
    disruption to the city these units were
  • 00:21:14
    brought directly from the fabrication
  • 00:21:16
    shop they pulled up at the base of the
  • 00:21:18
    building and these three units were
  • 00:21:21
    directly lifted off the truck in a
  • 00:21:23
    record immediately there was no storage
  • 00:21:25
    on the site and the exercise was no more
  • 00:21:28
    than putting together a whole series of
  • 00:21:30
    tinker toys every piece was numbered and
  • 00:21:33
    loaded on the truck at the right time so
  • 00:21:35
    that it would be the next piece to go up
  • 00:21:38
    on the building so it had to take a lot
  • 00:21:41
    of coordination between the fabricators
  • 00:21:44
    and shipping and the trucker's to make
  • 00:21:47
    it all run smooth and everything had to
  • 00:21:51
    stay in line
  • 00:21:53
    that since the major work of welding the
  • 00:21:55
    beams to the columns was done off-site
  • 00:21:57
    the iron workers were able to easily
  • 00:21:59
    accomplish an impressive two floors a
  • 00:22:01
    week
  • 00:22:03
    the razor gang sets to steal they put
  • 00:22:06
    one pole turning the bolt up gang came
  • 00:22:08
    up behind us stuck all the bowls in then
  • 00:22:10
    the plumb up game comes in he they have
  • 00:22:12
    an engineer with a trance and he
  • 00:22:13
    straightened a building not cuz if they
  • 00:22:14
    didn't if you go out this way in that
  • 00:22:15
    way and then once they've got it all
  • 00:22:17
    plumped they tighten it up with the
  • 00:22:19
    impact manager then the welders take
  • 00:22:21
    over and that's how the building's put
  • 00:22:22
    up everybody has to work as a team but
  • 00:22:26
    the project would not be without its
  • 00:22:27
    share of mishaps one of the incidents
  • 00:22:30
    that took place during the construction
  • 00:22:32
    of the building we were erecting steel
  • 00:22:34
    on about the 54th or 55th floor and it
  • 00:22:39
    was about four thirty one afternoon and
  • 00:22:41
    my phone rang and our field
  • 00:22:45
    representative was on the other end and
  • 00:22:47
    he said I think you better come out to
  • 00:22:48
    the building right away something
  • 00:22:50
    happened here
  • 00:22:51
    the shiver the pulley down in the
  • 00:22:54
    basement exploded and it cut the cable
  • 00:22:56
    and it dropped out was it seven seven
  • 00:23:00
    ton column 40 floors and the guys all
  • 00:23:03
    heard that and they looked and they saw
  • 00:23:05
    what happened and they all ran in and
  • 00:23:08
    you got under the building and the
  • 00:23:10
    column came down under the pedestrian
  • 00:23:13
    walkway and some of the cable hit the
  • 00:23:16
    taxicab out in the street
  • 00:23:20
    the superintendent got a bunch of iron
  • 00:23:22
    workers they've got that cab out of
  • 00:23:24
    there and they got everything
  • 00:23:26
    straightened out so that it wouldn't
  • 00:23:28
    make a big scene for the news media it
  • 00:23:31
    was right at 4:30 everybody was leaving
  • 00:23:34
    work you know all the office we pass net
  • 00:23:37
    for cab driver he had his hands on the
  • 00:23:40
    wheel you I don't think we can get his
  • 00:23:42
    fingers off the wheel because all cable
  • 00:23:44
    attacked his cab and he's happened to be
  • 00:23:45
    just sitting there in traffic and all of
  • 00:23:47
    a sudden not fight escape
  • 00:23:51
    they said the woman the passenger that
  • 00:23:53
    was in the back seat wet her pants the
  • 00:23:58
    amazing part of this story is no one was
  • 00:24:00
    hurt no one was scratched the cable
  • 00:24:03
    landed on the hood of a taxicab and that
  • 00:24:05
    was the worst thing that happened
  • 00:24:07
    other accidents later in the
  • 00:24:09
    construction had more tragic results
  • 00:24:12
    there were a total of six deaths on the
  • 00:24:14
    entire project including the death of
  • 00:24:16
    one iron worker by the summer of 1972
  • 00:24:20
    with over half the building below them
  • 00:24:22
    and hundreds of men working on the
  • 00:24:23
    project it would take sharp planning and
  • 00:24:26
    exemplary resourcefulness to keep the
  • 00:24:28
    project on the fast track we needed the
  • 00:24:31
    cooperation of the unions who would work
  • 00:24:34
    on a staggered start staggered stopped
  • 00:24:37
    staggered lunch you needed the
  • 00:24:39
    cooperation of the men who were willing
  • 00:24:41
    to take meals off of carts that we
  • 00:24:44
    brought up into the building
  • 00:24:46
    medical staff we had our own medical
  • 00:24:49
    staff and First Aid officers throughout
  • 00:24:51
    the building another methodology that
  • 00:24:53
    was utilized kept the building on target
  • 00:24:56
    from a timing standpoint otherwise if
  • 00:24:59
    you'd taken you another day of floor you
  • 00:25:01
    could see what the difference would have
  • 00:25:03
    been with regard to the overall schedule
  • 00:25:05
    the faster the ironworkers set the
  • 00:25:08
    skeleton of the building the sooner the
  • 00:25:10
    other trades could get in I believe you
  • 00:25:13
    broke a lot of Records for tonnage set
  • 00:25:15
    in one day I remember one day when we
  • 00:25:19
    actually said over a hundred truckloads
  • 00:25:22
    and one day they're from the top of the
  • 00:25:25
    building if you looked south on to Canal
  • 00:25:27
    Street the trucks were lined up because
  • 00:25:30
    you couldn't lock them downtown streets
  • 00:25:31
    it looked like Rommels Army in World War
  • 00:25:33
    two Felina trucks and they'd come in
  • 00:25:37
    then we'd unloaded oh that truck could
  • 00:25:39
    go they called in another truck there
  • 00:25:41
    was it was something I it's something
  • 00:25:43
    I'll always remember as the building
  • 00:25:46
    climbed the workers found themselves
  • 00:25:48
    fighting the forces of Mother Nature and
  • 00:25:50
    their struggle to claim their share of
  • 00:25:51
    the sky
  • 00:25:53
    they found that the wither at the top of
  • 00:25:56
    the building could be drastically
  • 00:25:57
    different from that on the ground in the
  • 00:26:00
    morning that iron worker steward would
  • 00:26:02
    go up early and check the weather on top
  • 00:26:06
    the CF was fit to work and sometimes it
  • 00:26:10
    would be nice down below and sun shining
  • 00:26:13
    and not a lot of wind and a store would
  • 00:26:16
    come down and say no work today boys
  • 00:26:18
    it's a witness born too strong up there
  • 00:26:21
    or it's maybe 20 degrees colder and it
  • 00:26:26
    was actually too cold to work
  • 00:26:29
    dozens of workdays were lost due to wind
  • 00:26:32
    snow or temperatures below 10 degrees
  • 00:26:35
    from August to December 1972 iron
  • 00:26:39
    workers were unable to work a complete
  • 00:26:41
    week yet even with the setbacks the
  • 00:26:46
    structure continued on its journey to
  • 00:26:48
    top the world during the whole process
  • 00:26:51
    of building this we would get reports
  • 00:26:54
    from New York that we're saying that
  • 00:26:56
    they're going to add floors or a
  • 00:26:57
    penthouse to one of the World Trade
  • 00:27:00
    Center buildings and that building was
  • 00:27:02
    going to surpass Sears in its height but
  • 00:27:06
    that never happened and it was just a
  • 00:27:07
    rumor
  • 00:27:09
    and fittingly on an abnormally cold and
  • 00:27:12
    windy day may 3rd 1973 the building was
  • 00:27:16
    ceremoniously topped off the tapping out
  • 00:27:21
    ceremony involved the man mayor Daly who
  • 00:27:24
    was like God in Chicago and all of the
  • 00:27:26
    top Sears executives we have some
  • 00:27:28
    Congress people's show business people
  • 00:27:30
    it was a very big ceremony because this
  • 00:27:33
    was the largest building in the world
  • 00:27:34
    and the mayor was very proud of it Sears
  • 00:27:37
    was very proud of it and it was a big
  • 00:27:39
    deal but center stage in the ceremony
  • 00:27:42
    was the final beam painted white and
  • 00:27:45
    signed by over 15,000 Sears employees
  • 00:27:48
    and construction workers the final beam
  • 00:27:51
    was hoisted up the building
  • 00:27:55
    I happen to be running the engine that
  • 00:27:57
    day and then when I got to 76 lark
  • 00:28:00
    burger well I'm in control so I put the
  • 00:28:03
    brake on stopped it
  • 00:28:05
    yeah what out there and it took a
  • 00:28:06
    picture of the beam got back into
  • 00:28:08
    cabbage raised it up again back to the
  • 00:28:11
    top
  • 00:28:14
    the job of the ironworkers was completed
  • 00:28:16
    and the skeleton of the sears tower
  • 00:28:18
    stood company fourteen hundred and fifty
  • 00:28:21
    feet into the sky
  • 00:28:25
    I believe it was said that there was
  • 00:28:27
    well over a thousand construction
  • 00:28:28
    workers on the job at one time all
  • 00:28:31
    working at the different trades that's
  • 00:28:33
    how large of a scope of this project was
  • 00:28:36
    the town was now standing but it was far
  • 00:28:41
    from complete
  • 00:28:45
    the Sears Tower is not perfectly
  • 00:28:47
    vertical the building leans six inches
  • 00:28:50
    to the west this anticipated lien was
  • 00:28:52
    caused by the unbalanced distribution of
  • 00:28:54
    weight resulting from the asymmetrical
  • 00:28:56
    design the Sears Tower will return on
  • 00:28:59
    modern marvels as the skeleton of the
  • 00:29:05
    Sears Tower climbed skyward legions of
  • 00:29:08
    tradesmen waited in the wings for their
  • 00:29:10
    turn with the building there's a
  • 00:29:12
    positive side to the higher building and
  • 00:29:14
    the larger project the top people at all
  • 00:29:18
    of the companies working on the project
  • 00:29:20
    were assigned to this particular project
  • 00:29:22
    I was dealing with the chairman of Alcoa
  • 00:29:26
    I was dealing with the president and
  • 00:29:28
    chairman of American bridge every every
  • 00:29:32
    contractor was was the top executive or
  • 00:29:35
    chief operating officer of the
  • 00:29:37
    organization and we wanted to get
  • 00:29:39
    something done we could get it done
  • 00:29:43
    following on the heels of the
  • 00:29:45
    ironworkers work began on the floors in
  • 00:29:49
    a tubular or a bundle tube structure
  • 00:29:52
    it's important to distribute the loads
  • 00:29:55
    the gravity loads from the building the
  • 00:29:57
    dead load of the floor system and the
  • 00:29:59
    people the live load of the people to
  • 00:30:02
    distribute it as equally as you can
  • 00:30:04
    throughout the structure so the idea was
  • 00:30:06
    every 5 floors
  • 00:30:08
    rotate the framing 90 degrees so it
  • 00:30:11
    would be in the north-south direction
  • 00:30:12
    for five floors and then it would switch
  • 00:30:14
    to the east-west direction for another
  • 00:30:16
    five floors the lower floors enclosed
  • 00:30:20
    just over 50 thousand square feet of
  • 00:30:22
    space a little more than the size of a
  • 00:30:25
    football field
  • 00:30:27
    the florist sizes were diminished at the
  • 00:30:28
    50th floor in the 66th floor and at the
  • 00:30:35
    90th floor leaving the top floors over
  • 00:30:38
    75% smaller than the ground floors at
  • 00:30:41
    only twelve thousand two hundred and
  • 00:30:42
    eighty-three square feet
  • 00:30:46
    five sets of two-story tall floors were
  • 00:30:48
    strategically placed throughout the
  • 00:30:50
    building they were included for two
  • 00:30:52
    reasons to house the immense mechanical
  • 00:30:55
    systems and to provide additional
  • 00:30:57
    integrity to the structure structurally
  • 00:31:00
    we found that we could take a lot of
  • 00:31:03
    advantage of those double-height floors
  • 00:31:06
    by x-bracing between the columns and it
  • 00:31:10
    acted like a stiffening element as you
  • 00:31:13
    went up the building solved by using a
  • 00:31:15
    very small amount of structural steel
  • 00:31:17
    for these diagonals we were able to
  • 00:31:19
    reduce the lateral drift due to wind by
  • 00:31:23
    about 15% which is very significant next
  • 00:31:28
    the steel superstructure was coated with
  • 00:31:30
    fire retardant we didn't use asbestos
  • 00:31:33
    based fire proofing even though we could
  • 00:31:35
    have and it was cheaper decision was
  • 00:31:37
    made that asbestos could potentially
  • 00:31:40
    cause cancer let's not use a specialist
  • 00:31:43
    in this building so we didn't and that
  • 00:31:45
    was a very prudent decision as it turned
  • 00:31:47
    out it was now time to put a skin on a
  • 00:31:50
    structural steel architect Bruce Graham
  • 00:31:54
    had envisioned a sleek black building
  • 00:31:56
    made of anodized aluminum the price for
  • 00:31:59
    the aluminum curtain wall was way over
  • 00:32:02
    budget I mean big percentage marks over
  • 00:32:06
    the budget
  • 00:32:07
    Grahame reluctantly looked into other
  • 00:32:09
    options an Italian stone supplier
  • 00:32:12
    approached the project team about using
  • 00:32:13
    granite for the outer wall which the
  • 00:32:16
    company could offer at an economical
  • 00:32:17
    price
  • 00:32:19
    Bruce and I went over to Rome and we
  • 00:32:22
    verified on that basis in the meantime I
  • 00:32:27
    was hearing from my New York office that
  • 00:32:29
    there were calls coming through from the
  • 00:32:32
    aluminum suppliers asking what Richard
  • 00:32:35
    and Bruce were doing in Italy and
  • 00:32:38
    mystically when we returned to the
  • 00:32:40
    United States there were new aluminum
  • 00:32:43
    prices that that showed up that were
  • 00:32:46
    quite a bit less than the the granite
  • 00:32:49
    wall and that's why the building is
  • 00:32:51
    aluminum today and and not granted with
  • 00:32:56
    the aluminum secured bronze tinted
  • 00:32:58
    windows were chosen to accent the sleek
  • 00:33:00
    black facade over 16,000 windows were
  • 00:33:06
    installed to complete the exterior as
  • 00:33:10
    crews worked feverishly to stay on
  • 00:33:12
    schedule engineers had to come up with
  • 00:33:15
    an efficient way to transport the
  • 00:33:16
    thousands of future tenants and visitors
  • 00:33:18
    to the top of the world
  • 00:33:21
    the building contains 104 elevators
  • 00:33:24
    including 14 double deckers these
  • 00:33:27
    double-decker elevators carry passengers
  • 00:33:29
    to the sky lobbies on the 33rd and 34th
  • 00:33:32
    floors and the 66th and 67th floors
  • 00:33:35
    where they can transfer to local
  • 00:33:38
    elevators due to its sheer size the
  • 00:33:42
    tower had some other extraordinary
  • 00:33:43
    problems that needed to be addressed the
  • 00:33:46
    unique phenomenon in super tall
  • 00:33:48
    buildings is stack effect essentially
  • 00:33:50
    hot air rises and is replaced by cooler
  • 00:33:54
    air from the outside of the building the
  • 00:33:56
    profound difference in temperature
  • 00:33:58
    causes air on the ground floor to be
  • 00:34:00
    sucked into the building creating a
  • 00:34:02
    massive draft the interior air in the
  • 00:34:05
    building in the wintertime is heated the
  • 00:34:09
    exterior air is very cold and therefore
  • 00:34:12
    that the warmer air in the building
  • 00:34:14
    begins to rise
  • 00:34:15
    besides being unpleasant the draught
  • 00:34:18
    affects many of the operational systems
  • 00:34:20
    in the building
  • 00:34:21
    such as the elevators and the entrance
  • 00:34:23
    doors to minimize the problem the lobby
  • 00:34:26
    was designed with revolving doors an
  • 00:34:29
    integrated air lock system was
  • 00:34:31
    incorporated at the loading docks to
  • 00:34:33
    control the amount of air coming in at
  • 00:34:35
    the ground floor
  • 00:34:37
    as you bring in material from the
  • 00:34:39
    loading dock one set of doors open you
  • 00:34:42
    move the material into the airlock that
  • 00:34:44
    set of doors closes then the second set
  • 00:34:47
    of doors open on the interior of the
  • 00:34:49
    building and you can move the goods into
  • 00:34:51
    the building so there's never a
  • 00:34:53
    continuous path of open air leading into
  • 00:34:58
    the building it's always sealed with the
  • 00:35:01
    smallest of details secured and of all
  • 00:35:03
    of 1974 just three and a half years
  • 00:35:06
    after construction began the Sears Tower
  • 00:35:08
    was complete the key words are my
  • 00:35:12
    business on time and on budget and we
  • 00:35:15
    were under on each by a very small
  • 00:35:17
    margin but the building was right on it
  • 00:35:20
    was incredible that it could be done
  • 00:35:23
    this was without computers and the
  • 00:35:28
    sketch would work very well
  • 00:35:30
    Sears Roebuck and Company could finally
  • 00:35:33
    inhabit their new home
  • 00:35:35
    however their days in their new
  • 00:35:37
    state-of-the-art headquarters were
  • 00:35:39
    numbered the Sears Tower contains two
  • 00:35:45
    million cubic feet of concrete enough to
  • 00:35:47
    build an eight-lane freeway five miles
  • 00:35:49
    long the Sears Tower will return on
  • 00:35:52
    modern marvels
  • 00:35:58
    by 1974 the world's largest or Sears
  • 00:36:03
    Roebuck and Company was now
  • 00:36:05
    headquartered in the world's tallest
  • 00:36:06
    building approximately 40 percent of the
  • 00:36:09
    building was occupied by about 8,000
  • 00:36:12
    Sears workers ahead of its time it was
  • 00:36:16
    one of the first office spaces with
  • 00:36:18
    robotic mail carriers buzzing through
  • 00:36:20
    the halls and to contemporary interior
  • 00:36:23
    that was scientifically designed to be
  • 00:36:25
    the most efficient workplace ever we
  • 00:36:28
    thought we did a marvelous job of
  • 00:36:32
    locating departments that needed to be
  • 00:36:35
    near each other next to each other with
  • 00:36:39
    huge 50,000 square-foot floors
  • 00:36:41
    departments were defined with specific
  • 00:36:43
    color schemes and interchangeable
  • 00:36:45
    furniture but despite the best
  • 00:36:48
    intentions of the interior designers and
  • 00:36:50
    the planning committee there were
  • 00:36:52
    problems some floors were so large that
  • 00:36:55
    some employees never had an opportunity
  • 00:36:57
    to look out a window
  • 00:36:59
    and moving from the horizontal sprawl of
  • 00:37:02
    the great works to the vertical
  • 00:37:04
    skyscraper of the Sears Tower was a
  • 00:37:07
    major adjustment for Sears employees
  • 00:37:09
    some 30 and 40 year long friendships
  • 00:37:12
    ended because of the upright
  • 00:37:13
    configuration of the tower some
  • 00:37:16
    employees only saw people who wrote in
  • 00:37:18
    their elevators
  • 00:37:19
    I'd talked to people who worked in the
  • 00:37:22
    Sears Tower and that's one of the things
  • 00:37:23
    that they had mentioned to me
  • 00:37:24
    consistently was that you know they sort
  • 00:37:26
    of lost track of other people in the
  • 00:37:28
    company being in the tower because
  • 00:37:29
    nobody had hop over two different
  • 00:37:31
    elevator banks to get to another floor
  • 00:37:33
    employees lost touch with each other and
  • 00:37:35
    more ominously the company started
  • 00:37:39
    losing touch with its customers other
  • 00:37:41
    retailers were nipping at our heels all
  • 00:37:43
    the time and Kmart got bigger than Sears
  • 00:37:46
    and Walmart got bigger than Sears so by
  • 00:37:49
    the time we were moving in we were still
  • 00:37:51
    number one but while these guys are
  • 00:37:52
    right behind us based on projected
  • 00:37:55
    growth figures by 1998 Sears would
  • 00:37:58
    occupy all 110 floors until then tenants
  • 00:38:03
    would fill the upper floors the growth
  • 00:38:05
    that we had seen did not occur it never
  • 00:38:08
    occurred we never got much beyond two
  • 00:38:10
    million square feet what they do is at
  • 00:38:11
    least the extra floors out and so just
  • 00:38:14
    brought a lot of new businesses and
  • 00:38:15
    firms and and economic activity to the
  • 00:38:18
    Chicago area so that the Sears Tower
  • 00:38:20
    really had a dramatic impact the one
  • 00:38:22
    seedy areas surrounding the Sears Tower
  • 00:38:24
    was now booming
  • 00:38:26
    but Sears the retailer was not in 1988
  • 00:38:31
    the Sears Tower that was built for a
  • 00:38:33
    hundred and seventy five million dollars
  • 00:38:35
    in 1974 was put on the market a 1
  • 00:38:39
    billion dollars people thought the
  • 00:38:42
    series was too big for anybody ever to
  • 00:38:44
    try to buy to strip them of their assets
  • 00:38:46
    but then came the r.j. Reynolds and a
  • 00:38:48
    couple of other major buys people put
  • 00:38:51
    together deals with junk bonds and a lot
  • 00:38:53
    of other financing so that it now became
  • 00:38:56
    possible that somebody would buy Sears
  • 00:38:58
    and strip off the tower and some other
  • 00:39:01
    assets
  • 00:39:01
    therefore the Sears Board decided let's
  • 00:39:05
    sell the tower and take the money and
  • 00:39:07
    buy some of our stock back let's put it
  • 00:39:09
    into improving the stores after only 16
  • 00:39:12
    years in their custom-made headquarters
  • 00:39:14
    Sears moved out of the tower and into a
  • 00:39:17
    complex in the Chicago suburbs
  • 00:39:22
    with Sears leaving almost the first 50
  • 00:39:25
    floors empty the new owners made a
  • 00:39:28
    series of renovations to attract new
  • 00:39:29
    tenants in 1991 Sears sold a building
  • 00:39:34
    and moved out the building was no longer
  • 00:39:36
    a corporate headquarters building it was
  • 00:39:38
    a leased building it would be Leon 100%
  • 00:39:41
    leased to tenants and it became
  • 00:39:45
    important now that you could directly
  • 00:39:48
    access the elevators from the lobby the
  • 00:39:52
    elevator system was revised when the
  • 00:39:55
    entire Lobby was redesigned some of the
  • 00:39:58
    utilitarian travertine and plastic
  • 00:40:00
    laminate that Sears it installed
  • 00:40:02
    initially was replaced with stainless
  • 00:40:04
    steel and granite and also a much more
  • 00:40:09
    obvious entry to the Skydeck was
  • 00:40:11
    provided to try and encourage that
  • 00:40:13
    business which is a very profitable part
  • 00:40:16
    of the operation of the building but the
  • 00:40:19
    lobbies went through yet another
  • 00:40:20
    transformation after terrorists attacked
  • 00:40:24
    the World Trade Center towers in New
  • 00:40:25
    York City on September 11th 2001
  • 00:40:28
    our security after 9/11 has changed
  • 00:40:33
    dramatically we have responded with
  • 00:40:35
    upgrading our security because our
  • 00:40:37
    tenants you know needed to have a sense
  • 00:40:40
    of comfort
  • 00:40:42
    well the fancy security features that
  • 00:40:45
    you have here are a lot of x-ray
  • 00:40:47
    machines metal detectors and that's
  • 00:40:48
    really for the safety of the people it
  • 00:40:50
    doesn't diminish from what we do as for
  • 00:40:53
    the friendly proactive attitude we have
  • 00:40:55
    but it does give people a sense of when
  • 00:40:57
    they walk into the Sears Tower we are
  • 00:40:59
    secure
  • 00:41:01
    employees now gain access to their
  • 00:41:03
    elevator banks with a sophisticated card
  • 00:41:05
    access system which opens sliding glass
  • 00:41:08
    gates while improvements to the lobbies
  • 00:41:12
    were made through the years the roof had
  • 00:41:15
    its own additions Sears Tower was
  • 00:41:19
    upgraded in 2000 with four
  • 00:41:20
    high-definition digital television
  • 00:41:22
    combination antennas an air crane was
  • 00:41:28
    used to lift the load from the top of
  • 00:41:29
    the parking garage skyward about 1/4
  • 00:41:32
    mile
  • 00:41:36
    being the highest point in the Chicago
  • 00:41:39
    metropolitan area and allowing reception
  • 00:41:41
    that reaches a 60 to 80 mile radius the
  • 00:41:44
    top of the Sears Tower has always been
  • 00:41:46
    prime real estate the Sears building is
  • 00:41:50
    very unique in its design because it's
  • 00:41:52
    so big it's you know it's called
  • 00:41:54
    vertical real estate and when you're in
  • 00:41:56
    an area like this anybody that has a
  • 00:41:59
    broadcast system or a two-way system or
  • 00:42:02
    any kind of an RF where they want a
  • 00:42:04
    wireless system put in its the Sears
  • 00:42:07
    building was built with that in mind
  • 00:42:09
    so they capitalize on it years ago when
  • 00:42:14
    the Sears Tower and Petronas Towers in
  • 00:42:16
    Malaysia competed for the tallest
  • 00:42:18
    building in the world title the Sears
  • 00:42:21
    Tower antennas arguably put the Sears
  • 00:42:23
    Tower on top however in 2004 a
  • 00:42:28
    skyscraper in Taiwan was erected and
  • 00:42:30
    captured all the record titles well
  • 00:42:34
    almost all the Taipei 101 building is
  • 00:42:38
    certainly considered now the tallest
  • 00:42:40
    building in the world it is taller than
  • 00:42:42
    the Sears Tower
  • 00:42:44
    you know roofline I think by about 30
  • 00:42:47
    feet if I'm not mistaken so we will give
  • 00:42:50
    them credit for that as far as our
  • 00:42:52
    antenna so we still have the tallest
  • 00:42:53
    antennas in the world and those extend
  • 00:42:57
    287 feet above the roofline but with or
  • 00:43:01
    without the antennas the Sears Tower
  • 00:43:03
    retains the name of the company that
  • 00:43:05
    dreamt big enough to build it and
  • 00:43:07
    remains a triumph for the people who
  • 00:43:09
    worked on it
  • 00:43:10
    work in it it's great when I can look
  • 00:43:13
    out from 10 miles away and see a Sears
  • 00:43:17
    Tower standing so tall and it's great to
  • 00:43:20
    feel that you were a part of it
  • 00:43:24
    what makes this how would it is is the
  • 00:43:27
    actual character of the building itself
  • 00:43:29
    I'm here look at me I stand above
  • 00:43:33
    everything else it's not there it's
  • 00:43:35
    become a symbol of Chicago almost any
  • 00:43:37
    time you see a picture of Chicago you
  • 00:43:39
    might see the Hancock building but for
  • 00:43:41
    sure you're going to see the Sears Tower
  • 00:43:43
    still it's the tallest building in North
  • 00:43:46
    America and we can't lose sight of them
タグ
  • Sears Tower
  • Willis Tower
  • Skyscraper
  • Architecture
  • Chicago
  • Structural Engineering
  • Observation Deck
  • World's Tallest Building