After eight matchups and 16 contenders we have narrowed our list down to the Elite Eight! With a mix of POMO, modernism, and contemporary architecture, the Elite Eight will be a heated round of eliminations, sending four towers home while advancing Chicago’s Final Four as voted by all of you!

We are jumping right in with our first Elite Eight matchup which may prove to be the biggest battle of them all! Here are our contenders for today:

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(1) Willis Tower

Willis (Sears) TowerWillisTower.com

Stats:

233 S. Wacker Drive

Height: 1,451 feet

Constructed: 1970-1974

Floors: 108

Architect: Skidmore, Owings, Merrill (SOM)

Developer: Sears Roebuck and Co

Willis (Sears) TowerSOM

Currently our tallest building, the Willis (we know it's really Sears) Tower, is an engineering marvel from SOM, using a bundled tube system of nine squares that allow the tower to achieve a 6.45:1 height-to-width ratio. Costing $160 million when completed, the construction used 76,000 tons of steel, 72,000 cubic yards of concrete, 17,500 tons of mechanical equipment. After years of ownership changes, Sears lost the naming rights to new tenants Willis Group Holdings who gained the naming rights in 2009. The building is currently owned by Blackstone Group, who bought the skyscraper for $1.3 billion in 2015.

Vs.

(3) St. Regis Chicago

St. Regis ChicagoStudio Gang

Stats:

375 E. Wacker

Height: 1,196 feet

Floors: 101

Constructed: 2016-2020

Architect: Studio Gang, bKL Architecture

Developer - Magellan Development Group LLC

St. Regis ChicagoTom Harris

Now the city’s third-tallest building, the St. Regis Chicago holds 192 hotel rooms, 393 condominiums, restaurants, and shared amenity spaces. The design presents itself as three interconnected volumes that undulate as it rises, giving it a flowing appearance. The undulating form is made possible by the 12-story truncated pyramids called frustums, which are stacked and nested to create a building with eight corners instead of four. This form gives inhabitants daylight and fresh air from multiple orientations. 

 

Vote now!

UPDATE! The poll has closed. Willis (Sears) Tower will move on to the Final Four!