From its humble beginning and growth of a city to the devastation of the fire of 1871, and it's rise from the ashes, Chicago always has been a city of contrasts. It has been at the forefront of architectural progress for more than a century.
The devastating Fire jumped a river and cleared the way for visionaries of plate glass and structural steel. Chicago's ambitious business leaders in the late 1800's (after most of the commercial district had been erased by the Great Fire) faced a quandary. Hemmed in by water on three sides and a rail center to the south, they knew that if the city were to grow - it would have to grow up. It had to be done ... and Chicago solved that problem spectacularly.
It is no accident that in the 1880s Chicago produced a group of architects, now known as the "First Chicago School," whose work would have a profound effect upon architecture. Its matchless tradition of technical prowess and aesthetic boldness would surface again in Chicago in the 1930s with the arrival of the Bauhaus, and in the following decades in the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his disciples - building higher and sleeker - and it has soared in the 21st century with audacious new steeples such as The Trump Tower and Jeanne Gang's Aqua Building.
Chicago is justly celebrated for its restaurants and writers, its movies and music, its cultural breakthroughs - even its way with words. But nothing defines the city more than its architecture, a creative and technological discipline in many ways responsible for Chicago's identity and very existence. This is where architecture lives, and history is still being etched upon the sky.
Order your "Let's talk Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
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Saturday, February 02, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Willis Tower and 311 South Wacker Drive Chicago
Willis Tower (popular name: Sears Tower), a skyscraper on 233 South Wacker Drive in the city of Chicago, Illinois, has been the tallest building in North America since 1973, surpassing both the former World Trade Center and Empire State Building. The tower was commissioned by the Sears, Roebuck and Company, and the entire construction of the tower was paid out of the pocket of the Sears Company - the final costs were estimated to be around $150 million. Currently, Willis Tower - nicknamed 'The Big Store' - is the second tallest building in the world. At 1,729 feet, it is superceded only by the United Arab Emirates' Burj Khalifa in structural height. Since its completion in 1974, it still remains the tallest skyscraper in the western hemisphere.
In 1969, Sears and Roebuck was the largest retailer in the world and had some 350,000 employees on payroll. Company executives decided to consolidate their numerous employees, that were distributed all over Chicago, into one structure on the edge of the Loop neighborhood. Construction of the tower began in August of 1970, with the building reaching its maximum height on May 3rd, 1973. Once it was completed, the structure had 108 stories according to traditional counting standards (109 stories with the main roof, and 110 with the mechanical penthouse). 25 years later Sears chose to move its headquarters to a more human-scale suburban setting and sold the building in 1994. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building, and obtained the building's naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.
From the ground to the top floor, Sears tower measures 1,450.58 feet. The building further increased in height in February of 1982, when two television antennas were added, making its total height 1,730 feet tall. The antennas get struck by lightning on average of 650-675 times per year.
The observation deck of the Willis Tower opened on June 22nd, 1974 and is on the 103rd floor of the tower. From this vantage point, visitors can view the plains of Illinois, across Lake Michigan, into Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. The deck is one of the most popular attractions in Chicago and draws some 1.3 million visitors every year.
Clad in bronze-tinted glass and stainless aluminum, rising with determination yet elegance from the depths of its grand foundations to the tips of its massive spires, luring tourists in daze, housing a workforce of thousands, the Big Store represents an era in Chicago of optimism and opportunity that will not be forgotten.
Order your "Willis Tower and 311 South Wacker Drive Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
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In 1969, Sears and Roebuck was the largest retailer in the world and had some 350,000 employees on payroll. Company executives decided to consolidate their numerous employees, that were distributed all over Chicago, into one structure on the edge of the Loop neighborhood. Construction of the tower began in August of 1970, with the building reaching its maximum height on May 3rd, 1973. Once it was completed, the structure had 108 stories according to traditional counting standards (109 stories with the main roof, and 110 with the mechanical penthouse). 25 years later Sears chose to move its headquarters to a more human-scale suburban setting and sold the building in 1994. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building, and obtained the building's naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.
From the ground to the top floor, Sears tower measures 1,450.58 feet. The building further increased in height in February of 1982, when two television antennas were added, making its total height 1,730 feet tall. The antennas get struck by lightning on average of 650-675 times per year.
The observation deck of the Willis Tower opened on June 22nd, 1974 and is on the 103rd floor of the tower. From this vantage point, visitors can view the plains of Illinois, across Lake Michigan, into Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. The deck is one of the most popular attractions in Chicago and draws some 1.3 million visitors every year.
Clad in bronze-tinted glass and stainless aluminum, rising with determination yet elegance from the depths of its grand foundations to the tips of its massive spires, luring tourists in daze, housing a workforce of thousands, the Big Store represents an era in Chicago of optimism and opportunity that will not be forgotten.
Order your "Willis Tower and 311 South Wacker Drive Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
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Monday, January 28, 2013
Chicago - It's Your Kind of Town
Chicago has a wealth of nicknames - "Windy City, "City that Works" and "City of Big Shoulders" among them - and has the big personality to match.
Ravaged by fire in 1871, the city eventually rose from the ashes to emerge as America's "Second City," trailing only New York in population and influence until the 1980s. In 1890, Chicago's population topped 1 million for the first time. Now home to nearly 3 million people, Chicago has the third-largest population in the United States. It is the birthplace of the country's first skyscrapers and the first elevated train system (the famous "El"), and boasts a glorious mix of architectural styles (Romanesque and Gothic Revival, Italianate and even exotic Moorish and Egyptian). Chicago's Loop and Near North Side contain major works from virtually every skyscraper architecture revolution of the past 100 years. ... One school suddenly appears raw, then matures and then is taken over by another, radically different idea about how buildings should look. Chicago's living history of architecture can be surveyed all within a few blocks in a concentration unmatched by any other city in the world.
Chicago is also the birthplace of many important inventions, including the first steel-framed skyscraper, the first elevated train system, the first zipper, the first McDonald's restaurant, the first atomic reactor and the first Twinkie. Al Capone, America's most infamous gangster, lived here, Walt Disney, one of history's most famous dreamers, was born and studied in Chicago, Oprah Winfrey, one of the most powerful people in media and entertainment, moved to the city, Barack Obama, the nation's first African American president, launched his political career in Chicago, Hillary Rodham Clinton (whom Obama appointed as secretary of state), also has an important link to the Windy City: She was born in Chicago and grew up in Park Ridge, a Chicago suburb.
Chicago unquestionably knows that it is great. It's Your Kind of Town!
Order your "Chicago - It's Your Kind of Town" Print at Fine Art America
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Ravaged by fire in 1871, the city eventually rose from the ashes to emerge as America's "Second City," trailing only New York in population and influence until the 1980s. In 1890, Chicago's population topped 1 million for the first time. Now home to nearly 3 million people, Chicago has the third-largest population in the United States. It is the birthplace of the country's first skyscrapers and the first elevated train system (the famous "El"), and boasts a glorious mix of architectural styles (Romanesque and Gothic Revival, Italianate and even exotic Moorish and Egyptian). Chicago's Loop and Near North Side contain major works from virtually every skyscraper architecture revolution of the past 100 years. ... One school suddenly appears raw, then matures and then is taken over by another, radically different idea about how buildings should look. Chicago's living history of architecture can be surveyed all within a few blocks in a concentration unmatched by any other city in the world.
Chicago is also the birthplace of many important inventions, including the first steel-framed skyscraper, the first elevated train system, the first zipper, the first McDonald's restaurant, the first atomic reactor and the first Twinkie. Al Capone, America's most infamous gangster, lived here, Walt Disney, one of history's most famous dreamers, was born and studied in Chicago, Oprah Winfrey, one of the most powerful people in media and entertainment, moved to the city, Barack Obama, the nation's first African American president, launched his political career in Chicago, Hillary Rodham Clinton (whom Obama appointed as secretary of state), also has an important link to the Windy City: She was born in Chicago and grew up in Park Ridge, a Chicago suburb.
Chicago unquestionably knows that it is great. It's Your Kind of Town!
Order your "Chicago - It's Your Kind of Town" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
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