BRUCE JOHN GRAHAM (1925 –2010)

Master Architect

INTRODUCTION

Bruce John Graham (December 1, 1925 – March 6, 2010) was a Colombian architect. Among his most notable buildings are the Inland Steel Building, the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the Hotel Arts in Barcelona and the John Hancock Center.

He worked with Fazlur Khan on all three constructions. Architectural historian Franz Schulze called him "the Burnham of his generationBorn on December 1, 1925 in La Cumbre, Colombia, Graham was the son of a Canadian-born father who was an international banker, and a Peruvian mother. His first language was Spanish. He attended Colegio San Jose de Rio Piedras, in Puerto Rico and graduated in 1944.

He studied at the University of Dayton, Ohio and at the Case School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland, Ohio.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948 with a degree in architecture. When he first came to Chicago, he worked for Holabird and Root and joined the Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the largest architectural firm in the United States in 1951.

He later headed that office and was a long time friend of Mies van der Rohe. He was deeply involved with many aspects of developing the city of Chicago, from city planning, bringing great public art to the city and involvement in individual projects

. Bruce Graham built extensively all over the world from his home in Chicago, to Guatemala, Hong Kong, London, Cairo, and many other cities. He was extremely involved with the University of Pennsylvania, especially the School of Fine Arts. He believed that teachers of Architecture should be currently involved in its practice[4]

He was committed to the study of Architectural Theory and started the SOM Foundation. He also taught an Architectural studio at Harvard.

Graham was a great collector of Art. He befriended Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, Chryssa and Chillida, to name a few. He invited these artists to create public works of Art for the city of Chicago.

He believed that the architect should be informed by philosophy, history, music and literature to build great monuments. He wa Bruce died on March 6, 2010 at the age of 84 in Hobe Sound, Florida.

MAJOR WORKS

1958 - Inland Steel Building, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1970 - John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1973 - Sears Tower (renamed Willis Tower), Wacker Drive, Chicago, USA

1974 - First Wisconsin Plaza, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

1992 - Arts Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

SEARS TOWER (RENAMED WILLIS TOWER)

Willis Tower (formerly named, and still commonly referred to as, Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years.

The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago, and over one million people visit its observation deck each year.

Named the Sears Tower throughout its history,

in 2009 Willis Group Holdings obtained the

right to rename the building, as part of their

lease on a portion of its offices. On July 16,

2009, the building was officially renamed the

Willis Tower. On August 13, 2012, United

Airlines announced it will be moving its

corporate headquarters from 77 West Wacker

Drive to the Willis Tower.

• BURJ KHALIFA, DUBAI

• CN TOWER, TORONTO

• WILLIS TOWER, CHICAGO

The Willis Tower remains the tallest building in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. With a pinnacle height of 1729 feet (527 m), it is the second tallest freestanding structure in the Americas, as it is 86 feet (26 m) shorter than Toronto's CN Tower, and is the only other freestanding structure in the Americas to exceed 1500 feet (457.2 m) in height. As of September 2011, the Willis Tower is the seventh tallest freestanding structure in the world (by pinnacle height), after the Burj Khalifa the Tokyo Skytree, the Abraj Al Bait Towers, the Canton Tower, the CN Tower and theOstankino Tower.

Preceded byOne World Trade Center(1971)

Surpassed byPetronas Twin Towers

General information

Type Office, observation, communication

Location233 S. Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60606 United States

Construction started1970

Completed1973

HeightArchitectural442.1 m (1,450 ft)

Tip527 m (1,729 ft)

]Top floor412.7 m (1,354 ft)

Technical details

Floor count108 (+3 basement floors)Floor area416,000 m2(4,477,800 sq ft)

]Lifts/elevators104, with 16 double-decker elevators, made byWestinghouse modernized by Schindler Group

INLAND STEEL BUILDING

The Inland Steel Building, located at 30 W. Monroe Street in Chicago, is one of the city's defining commercial high-rises of the post-World War II era of modern architecture. It was built in the years 1956–1957 and was the first skyscraper to be built in the Chicago Loop following the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its principal designers were Bruce Graham and Walter Netsch of the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architecture firm

The use of brushed stainless steel cladding reflects the corporation that commissioned the building as its headquarters, the Inland Steel Company.

The placement of all structural columns on the building's perimeter—and the consolidation of elevators and other service functions in a separate tower—allowed for a highly flexible interior floor layout with no interior columns. This design is a good example of the widely held principle of the era, "form follows function" (Louis Sullivan). The lobby features a sculpture of gold, stainless steel and enameled copper byRichard Lippold entitled Radiant I.

The Inland Steel Building was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 7, 1998

JOHN HANCOCK CENTER

MODEL OF JOHN HANCOCK CENTER

The John Hancock Center, at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot (344 m) tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan.

When the building topped out on May 6, 1968, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City.

It is currently the fourth-tallest building in Chicago and the sixth-tallest in the United States, after the Willis Tower, the Empire State Building, the Bank of America Tower, the Trump Tower Chicago, and the Aon Center. When measured to the top of its antenna masts, it stands at 1,506 feet (459 m).

The building is home to offices and restaurants, as well as about 700 condominiums, and contains the third highest residence (above adjacent ground level) in the world, after the Trump Tower (also in Chicago), and the Burj Khalifa (in Dubai).

The building was named for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, a developer and original tenant of the building.

The 95th floor has long been home to a restaurant, the latest tenant being "The Signature Room on the 95th Floor". Diners can look out at Chicago and Lake Michigan. The Observatory attraction (called "John Hancock Observatory") competes with the Willis Tower's Skydeck across town. John Hancock Center is in the heart of Michigan Avenue, a prime tourist hotspot in Chicago, while the Willis Tower is in the financial district.

John Hancock Observatory allows a 360° view of the city, up to four states and over 80 miles. The Observatory has Chicago's only open-air SkyWalk and also features a free multimedia tour in six languages, narrated by actor David Schwimmer.

From January to March the Observatory offers what is claimed as the world's highest ice skating rink, using a synthetic surface that enables the use of standard ice skates at normal room temperature. The 44th-floor sky lobby features America's highest indoor swimming pool.

FIRST WISCONSIN PLAZA, MILWAUKEE

U.S. BANK CENTER (MILWAUKEE)

U.S. Bank Center is a skyscraper located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, noted for being the tallest building in the state of Wisconsin. Standing 601 feet (183 m) and 42 stories tall, it surpassed the Milwaukee City Hall as both the tallest building in Milwaukee and the state. Topped off August 29, 1972, and completed in 1973, the building was originally named the First Wisconsin Center, as it was constructed for First Wisconsin National Bank. The building was designed by Bruce Graham and James DeStefano of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and engineered by Fazlur Khan. Presently, the building is home to the headquarters of Foley & Lardner, Robert W. Baird & Company, and Sensient Technologies Corporation. It also serves as the Milwaukee office for U.S. Bank, IBM, KPMG, and Bud Selig, Commissioner ofMajor League Baseball.

Located on East Wisconsin Avenue in Downtown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. Bank Center comprises a 42-story 601-foot (183 m) office tower designed by Bruce Graham and James DeStefano of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The U.S. Bank Center covers an entire block, between North Cass and Van Buren Streets and East Michigan Street and East Wisconsin Avenue.[3] The tower features a steel frame sheathed with a white aluminum and glass facade.[2]

Structurally, U.S. Bank Center utilizes a belt

truss system engineered by both Graham

and Fazlur Khan. Using elements similar to

those utilized in Khan's previous work, the BHP

House in Melbourne, the three diagonal belt

trusses provide for a dramatic contrast with the

vertical facade in serving both aesthetic and

structural purposes.

Its exterior was left unchanged from its completion in 1973, through the 1999 merger with Mercantile Bancorporation. At that time, Firstar announced signs would be attached to the top of the building. Critics argued the green advertising signage on all four sides of the building's top story in place of the original aluminum elements that were subsequently recycled, disrupted the look of the building's signature diagonal trusses. The signs were replaced with opaque, white ones by 2002 to reflect the merger with U.S. Bancorp.

OTHER IMPORTANT PROJECTS

REFERECE

Wikipedia (Internet)

Book by Bruce Graham (Autography)

THANK YOU

ASHWIN DURGE

AR11015