Why the Willis Sky Deck faces west?

[K 22]

Personally, I can't in good conscience call the Sears Tower "Willis". Just can't.

Just like I'd rather not refer to Comiskey Park as "US Cellular Field".

[rparz]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

I like to pretend it's named after Wesley Willis.

Rock over London
Rock on Chicago
Quaker state - the intelligent oil

[Larry Siegel]

I'd like to get all warm and fuzzy about the Sears Tower and insist on calling it by its historical name but it's a big ugly box that doesn't look like it ever was the tallest building in the world. Willis is good enough for me...

[chet everett]

...places like Malayasia or Dubai, huh? I thing those design were inspired by things I used to have in my fish tank. http://www.petco.com/product/112573/...-Ornament.aspx

SOM's engineering heavy design is clean and direct. No tacked on ornamentation, no silliness. The "bundle of tubes" and core steel frame are classic expressions of what skyscrapers do best -- solve a business need for LOTS of space! Further the proportions of each floor and the window area really much more pleasing than the tiny little "slot windows" of some of the concrete towers.

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

I'd like to get all warm and fuzzy about the Sears Tower and insist on calling it by its historical name but it's a big ugly box that doesn't look like it ever was the tallest building in the world. Willis is good enough for me...

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...places like Malayasia or Dubai, huh? I thing those design were inspired by things I used to have in my fish tank. Penn Plax Mini Castle Aquarium Ornament at PETCO

SOM's engineering heavy design is clean and direct. No tacked on ornamentation, no silliness. The "bundle of tubes" and core steel frame are classic expressions of what skyscrapers do best -- solve a business need for LOTS of space! Further the proportions of each floor and the window area really much more pleasing than the tiny little "slot windows" of some of the concrete towers.

I like traditional architecture best, but in the modern category, the Hancock Building is one of my favorites. The Sears and Hancock buildings are two expressions of the same idea, but one is executed well. There's some great postmodern stuff in Chicago too - you don't have to go to Asia for it - but the best example I've seen in the U.S. is the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta.