Chicago’s Best Skyscraper, Final Four: (1) Willis Tower vs. (5) John Hancock

After twelve matchups and 16 contenders we are down to the Final Four! With POMO officially out of the running, the Final Four will be a head-to-head style battle where only one of each can go to the Championships! Vote today and tomorrow to set up the final match that will put modernism up against contemporary architecture in Urbanize Chicago’s Best Skyscraper Tournament 2023!

Today it’s up to you all to decide, which is the better modernist tower? Vote now!
 

(1) Willis (Sears) Tower

Stats:

233 S. Wacker Drive

Height: 1,451 feet

Constructed: 1970-1974

Floors: 108

Architect: Skidmore, Owings, Merrill (SOM)

Developer: Sears Roebuck and Co

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.

(5) John Hancock Center

Stats:

875 N. Michigan

Height: 1,128 feet

Floors: 100

Constructed: 1965-1969

Architect: Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM)

Developer: John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company

Now known at 875 North Michigan Ave (another name changer), the building was the world’s first mixed-use tower, containing office space on the lower floors, residential units on the upper floors, and an observation deck and restaurant at the top. The skyscraper’s tapered shape was chosen to match the different floor space requirements of the different uses. The facade uses an exterior diagonal tube structural system, sometimes referred to as a diagrid, to support the building.

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