Posted by shana on Mar 15, 2009 in
Identity Crisis If you thought I was being over-dramatic in our last Chicago Thursday post, particularly when I evoked childhood artistic inspiration to decry the renaming of an icon of our city (and our country, and our hemisphere and, you know, architecture everywhere), then you should have seen the cover of the Red Eye on Friday:
One of the Willis guys was reportedly surprised by the uproar, saying he thought people should be happy they were brining business and money to Chicago, instead of letting this theoretically beloved icon sit with so much empty, ignored space. Another person pointed out that everyone morning the loss of the “Sears” Tower probably isn’t actually willing to throw their consumer/purchasing power into rebuilding the Sears Empire so they can move back into their namesake tower, clinching the name for good. And I know, I know, I think we all know that this is the way things go, and no one, as far as I know, is planning any kind of large scale protest to tell the Willises to go back to their side of the pond…
I was talking to a friend of mine Friday night and brought up the fact that this is going to be one of those things we tell our kids, like “I remember back when this building here was called the Sears Tower. Did you know that? I remember when they changed the name!”
To which our kids will respond, “oh my god, you are so old!”
My friend’s response, as he shook his head, summed it all up:
“Dang.”
Tags: Chicago, skyscrapers
Posted by shana on Mar 12, 2009 in
Chicago Thursday I’m just going to hit you with it, this morning’s top headline:
sinking in yet?
no?
Built in 1973, Chicago’s iconic Sear’s Tower stood as the tallest building in the world until 1998 (damn you, Petronas Towers!) – that’s a run of twenty-five years, an admirably long time, considering that the six taller buildings in the world have each only held their titles for a couple years. The poor Shanghai World Financial Center was tallest for only a few months in 2008. Bummer. To this day, at 36 years old, the Sears Tower remains the tallest sky scraper in the entire western hemisphere.
Here’s a look, by the way, at the most recent and impressive action in skyscrapers lately:
The red buildings are the ones currently under construction – at this point, the Russia Tower is barely getting started and the Chicago Spire, as I understand it, is mostly just a twinkle in the eye of a newly bankrupt developer… the Burj Dubai actually is that tall, and was scheduled to be done in November 2008 but now they’re shooting for July. You can watch a (pretty creepy, actually) video of it here. It’s the music, really, and also, there’s no way the UAE has that much green space… Also, as you can see, the Sears Tower’s antennas remain the tallest of existing, completed skyscrapers, though the Burj kind of blows everything out of the water. Thirty-six years though…
I’ve been pretty obsessed with skyscrapers, particularly this recent rush of supertalls, like the Burj Dubai and the Chicago Twinkle – I mean, Spire. It all started back when I was just a little kid, and my dad took my sisters and I to climb to the top of the Sears Tower. Never had I seen such a structure, neither in my suburban Milwaukee hometown, nor in our frequent trips to upper Michigan. Never had I been so high up in the air. Never had I felt so close to the heavens. It captured my imagination for years to come – thereafter, any drawing I did of a city skyline (and there were many) included a building that looked roughly like this:
actually drew this one just now.
I haven’t been to the top of the Sears Tower since then, but for the rest of my growing up years and through college, any time we drove through Chicago, I’d always take a moment on the end of the Kennedy Expressway to stare out the window with reverence and awe. The Sears Tower.
Of course, as much as no one saw this coming (just last week they were talking about painting the Sears Tower silver! forget that!), there’s also nothing we can do about it. The real question is, how will these Willis folks train Chicagoans (and, indeed, the world) to start using the new name? Flashing signs? Ads on el trains? Millions of tiny implants around the city that deliver a small electric shock to anyone who uses the word “Sears” in conjunction with the word “Tower”? Cash prizes to those who do it right?
Thus far, Chicagoans (at least, Chicago Tribune readers) are adamantly against it, not at all surprisingly:
It will be interesting. This beacon of innovation in America’s heartland, source of identity and pride as the tallest building in the tallest city in the world, bought and renamed by some guys from London. We’ll see how it goes…
This would happen on a Thursday.
PS…
Shana: Can you believe they’re going to change the name of the Sears Tower?
Mac: Well, Sears hasn’t actually been there since 1992, and they gave up their naming rights in 2003, it was only a matter of time.
Shana: Yeah, but that’s not the point. I mean, you wouldn’t rename the Empire State Building, would you?
Mac: Is Empire still in the building?
Shana: But you wouldn’t rename the Burj Dubai!
Mac: Well that’s brand new.
Shana: Yeah but I’m sayin’…
Mac: (quiet, then…) I miss the Chicago Spire.
Tags: Chicago, skyscrapers, wikipedia THIS
