1.
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
–
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District, the streets southern terminus is at Sibley Boulevard in the southern suburb of Harvey, though like many Chicago streets it exists in several disjointed segments. Michigan Avenue also is the commercial street of Streeterville. It includes all of the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and most of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, the oldest section of Michigan Avenue is the portion that currently borders Grant Park in the Chicago Loop section of the city. The name came from Lake Michigan, which until 1871 was immediately east of Michigan Avenue, the street at that time ran north to the Chicago River and south to the city limits. Originally, Michigan Avenue was primarily residential, and by the 1860s, large homes, but in the 1900-1907 Ads for the Chicago Musical College, the address was referred to as 202 Michigan Boul. As recently as the 1920s, North Michigan Avenue was referred to as Upper Boul Mich, pariss Boulevard Saint-Michel is the original Boul Mich. In the Great Fire of 1871, all buildings on Michigan Avenue from Congress Street north to the river were destroyed. Beginning in the 1880s, the expansion of the business district replaced houses on Michigan Avenue so that today. The first city showcase on Michigan Avenue was the Exposition Building, which was built on the current site of the Art Institute, the east side of Michigan at Adams, in 1874. By the 1890s, a wall of buildings was constructed on the west side of Michigan Avenue downtown, including the Auditorium Building. As the east side of Michigan Avenue downtown was developed as a park, in 1924, the first traffic lights in Chicago were installed on Michigan Avenue after John D. Hertz fronted the city $34,000 for the purchase, installation, historically, Illinois Route 1 and U. S. Route 41 were routed on Michigan Avenue. Illinois Route 1 has been truncated to Chicagos south side and U. S. Route 41 is now routed on Lake Shore Drive, as early as 1891 plans were proposed to extend Michigan Avenue north across the river. When the Michigan Avenue Bridge was completed, Pine Street was renamed Michigan Avenue, at its north end it merges into Lake Shore Drive near the Drake Hotel. Today, the north of the Chicago River is referred to as the Magnificent Mile. It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists, the area also has a high concentration of the citys advertising agencies and major media firms, including the Chicago Tribune. North of the center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building
2.
Kohn Pedersen Fox
–
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates is an American architecture firm which provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF is one of the largest architecture firms in the world and is one of the largest in New York City. KPF’s projects over the last 10 years include Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Unilever House in London, the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, the Stephen M. In New York, KPF is presently designing the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, KPF recently completed One Jackson Square and served as Executive Architect for the 10-year phased expansion and renovation of New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. Current projects around the world include the Midfield Terminal Complex at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, kPFs philosophy is firmly rooted in the belief that success is the result of collaboration and dialogue. KPF explains, “A similar sentiment is central to the manner in which we weave our buildings into the environmental fabric, for a firm of its size, KPF takes on an unusually large number of restoration and renovation projects. Examples of this work include The World Bank Headquarters, Unilever House, KPF has been recognized for workplace collaboration. Shortly after its founding in 1976, the American Broadcasting Company chose KPF to redevelop a former building on Manhattan’s West Side to house TV studios. This experience led to 14 more projects for ABC over the next 11 years, as well as commissions from major corporations across the country, including the AT&T, by the mid-1980s, KPF had nearly 250 architects working on projects in cities throughout the United States. It remains a Chicago landmark, and was voted “Favorite Building” by the readers of the Chicago Tribune in both 1995 and 1997. In 1986, KPF’s Procter & Gamble Headquarters in Cincinnati, which included an open plan interior design by Patricia Conway, was recognized for its design with the AIA National Honor Award. In the 1990s, KPF also took on a number of government and civic projects. Courthouse in New York, the Mark O. Hatfield U. S, courthouse in Portland, OR, the U. S. Courthouse of Minneapolis, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and the multiple award-winning redevelopment of The World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D. C. KPF’s winning entry in the competition for the World Bank Headquarters. KPF’s sensitive design solution for the World Bank, its first D. C. project, KPF completed the design for two blocks of the large-scale Canary Wharf redevelopment and the Goldman Sachs Headquarters on Fleet Street. KPF has been selected for projects in the Canary Wharf area through the present day, KPF’s subsequent work in the U. K. includes Thames Court in London, the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University and the master plan for the London School of Economics. KPFs introduction to the Asian market began with the 4,500, within 10 years, KPF had projects in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China
3.
HKS, Inc.
–
HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith, in 2014 HKS launched a year-long public campaign to commemorate the firms 75th anniversary. In 2012 HKS announced the acquisition of Miami-headquartered educational design firm HADP Architecture, in 2011 HKS saw rapid expansion. In October HKS released an announcement it had acquired the design firm Maregatti Interiors LLC in Indianapolis. The HKS Science & Technology Practice was formed after the firm acquired Earl Walls Studios in San Diego, HKS also opened new locations in Chicago, Denver, New York, and New Delhi, India. In 2010 HKS announced the formation of an architectural research group, Center for Advanced Design. HKS has expanded its presence, in 2008 opening offices in Abu Dhabi and São Paulo, Brazil and again in 2010 with an office in Shanghai. In 2007, HKS expanded their hospitality architectural design services and also acquired the hospitality design firm Hill Glazier Architects, located in Palo Alto, the firm also opened offices in Miami, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and Chennai, India. In 2006, HKS acquired the Stein-Cox Group and Trinity Design to have presences in Phoenix, Arizona and Detroit, Michigan, in 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mexico City to serve its Latin American clients. This list includes projects in which HKS collaborated with other architecture firms, Phoenix Childrens Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas Orlando Health/Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida L. A
4.
J.A. Jones Construction
–
Jones Construction was a heavy construction company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Operating internationally since the 1950s, it merged with Germanys Philipp Holzmann AG in 1979, in 2003 the company ceased operations due to the failure of its parent company. The company was founded by James Addison Jones in the 1890s, one of Jones early landmark projects was the twelve story Independence Building, Charlottes first skyscraper and the soon to be first office of J. A. In 1930 the company won a contract to build a new military airbase in the Canal Zone in Panama. During World War II the company built 212 cargo ships and tankers and was a builder of Liberty ships in support of the war effort. It also built Camp Shelby in Mississippi as well as K-25 and K-27, production plants for manufacturing Uranium-235 at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1979 the company was acquired by Philipp Holzmann A. G. and under that companys ownership Jones went on to build the 88-story Petronas Towers, for a while the tallest buildings in the world. However Holzman got into difficulties in the late 1990s and this led to the bankruptcy of Jones in 2003. Jones Alumni Association K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Oak Ridge Ships for Victory, Jones Construction Company and Liberty Ships in Brunswick, Georgia from the Digital Library of Georgia
5.
Chicago
–
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
6.
Skyscraper
–
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
7.
List of tallest buildings in Chicago
–
Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, is home to 1,315 completed high-rises,44 of which stand taller than 600 feet. The tallest building in the city is the 108–story Willis Tower, the second-, third- and fourth-tallest buildings in Chicago are the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the Aon Center and the John Hancock Center, respectively. Of the ten tallest buildings in the United States, four are located in Chicago, as of February 2013, the entire city had 105 buildings at least 500 feet tall. Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, is regarded as the worlds first skyscraper. This building used the method, innovated in Chicago. It was originally built with 10 stories, a height in the 1800s, to a height of 138 feet. It was later expanded to 12 stories with a height of 180 feet, the building was demolished in 1931. New York City then began building skyscrapers as Chicago had done, Chicago has always played a prominent role in the development of skyscrapers and three past buildings have been the tallest building in the United States. The city then went through a much larger building boom that has lasted from the early 1960s. The tallest buildings are concentrated in various districts such as the Loop, Streeterville, River North, the South Loop. Other high-rises extend north along the waterfront into North Side districts such as the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown, some high-rises also extend south from downtown along the waterfront to South Side districts such as Kenwood, Hyde Park, and South Shore. Several new skyscrapers were constructed in the city throughout the 2000s, including the Trump International Hotel, as of August 2016 there were 67 skyscrapers under construction in Chicago. This list ranks Chicago skyscrapers that stand at least 550 feet tall and this height includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign following a rank indicates the height between two or more buildings. The Year column indicates the year of completion and this list ranks Chicago skyscrapers based on their pinnacle height, which includes radio masts and antennas. Standard architectural height measurement, which excludes antennas in building height, is included for comparative purposes, the Year column indicates the year in which a building was completed. This lists buildings that are under construction in Chicago as of January 2017 and are planned to rise at least 300 feet, buildings whose construction is on-hold are also included. A floor count of 30 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet released by their developers
8.
Tallest buildings in the United States
–
The worlds first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since that time, the United States has been home and still is home to some of the worlds tallest skyscrapers, New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the country. Eleven American buildings have held the title of tallest building in the world, New York City and Chicago have always been the centers of American skyscraper building. As of 2013, One World Trade Center, also referred by the name of Freedom Tower. Prior to the September 11,2001 attacks in New York City, the North Tower stood at 1,368 feet, while the South Tower was 1, 362-foot-tall. If they were standing today, they would occupy the fourth and fifth positions on the list below. There are numerous supertall buildings both proposed and under construction throughout the country, concentrated in New York City and Chicago and this list ranks completed and topped out buildings in the United States that stand at least 700 feet tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details, as well as antenna masts, an equal sign following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The Year column indicates the year in which a building was completed and this lists ranks completed and topped out buildings in the United States that stand at least 800 feet tall based on pinnacle height measurement, which includes antenna masts. Standard architectural height measurement, which excludes antennas in building height, is included for comparative purposes, * Indicates building is still under construction, but has been topped out. American cities with at least 15 completed skyscrapers over 400 feet high and this lists buildings that are under construction in the United States and are planned to rise at least 700 feet. Buildings that have already topped out are excluded. * Table entries with dashes indicate that information regarding building dates of completion has not yet been released and this lists buildings that are proposed for construction in the United States and are planned to rise at least 700 feet. A floor count of 50 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet released by their developers. * Table entries with dashes indicate that information regarding building heights and this table lists the 10 tallest buildings in the United States that have been demolished, destroyed, or are undergoing demolition. This is a list of the history of the tallest buildings in the United States and this lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in the United States. ^ According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, freestanding observation towers are not considered to be buildings and this structure is included for comparative purposes. Diagram of United States skyscrapers on SkyscraperPage
9.
Water Tower Place
–
Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a 758,000 sq ft shopping mall and 74 story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Magnificent Mile and it is named after the nearby Chicago Water Tower, and is owned by General Growth Properties. The project received a J. C. Nichols Prize from the Urban Land Institute in 1986, modernist architect Edward D. Dart, of Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart, was the chief architect. The tower section is a 78-story, 859-foot reinforced concrete slab, faced with marble, and is the eighth tallest building in Chicago. When built, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world and it contains an award-winning Ritz-Carlton hotel, luxury condominiums and office space, and sits atop a block-long base containing an atrium-style retail mall that fronts on the Magnificent Mile. It shifted downtown Chicagos retail center of gravity north from State Street to North Michigan Avenue, the 360 condo units in the tower were designed in 1974. Richard A. Meyers Realty, Inc. was the contracted sales, in a recessionary market, the company was given the challenge of demonstrating the product and obtaining hard contracts before construction began. This was an assignment in the recessionary climate of 1974–1976. The product analysis was then compared with sales velocities of other projects to determine needs and wants. The net result was a mathematically designed housing product that allowed for specific space allocation for each room in each unit, the results were efficient units, where each room had a competitive advantage. Because of this unique design methodology, the units are still considered well designed. After the product was designed, Richard A. Meyers Realty, Inc. Michigan Avenue, and built several full-scale condominium units, several blocks away from the site. In 2001, a program of refurbishments was begun, including enclosing the exterior arcade along Michigan and these last additions broke up the boxy nature of the original architecture and added some dimension and scale to the monolithic marble walls. The Rouse Company acquired the center in 2002 during the breakup of the then Dutch-owned Urban Shopping Centers and it was subsequently acquired by General Growth Properties. The buildings most famous resident is Oprah Winfrey. Having bought a $6,000,000 condo on November 28,2006, Oprah says she is planning to sell her residence in Water Tower Place. The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago is a 435-room AAA Five Diamond, Mobil Five Star hotel, the builders of Water Tower Place acquired the rights to use the Ritz-Carlton name and logo when they opened a hotel in the tower in 1975. This was before the modern Ritz-Carlton chain was established in the mid-1980s, using the name and logo
10.
Magnificent Mile
–
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicagos Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. The district is located adjacent to downtown, and one block east of Rush Street, the Magnificent Mile serves as the main thoroughfare between Chicagos Loop business district and its Gold Coast. It is generally the boundary of the Streeterville neighborhood, to its east. Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff of Rubloff Company gave the district its nickname in the 1940s, to date, rent on The Magnificent Mile is the eighth most expensive in the country, behind Fifth Avenue in New York and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Several of the tallest buildings in the United States, such as the John Hancock Center, landmarks along the Magnificent Mile include Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, the Chicago Water Tower, and the Allerton Hotel. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, State Street in the downtown Loop, the convenience of mass transit including streetcars and elevated trains, supported a retail corridor along State Street from Lake Street to Van Buren Street. By the 1920s, commuter suburbs began to have significant retail districts, prior to the bascule bridge construction, swing bridges across the river were open for ship traffic during half the daylight hours. The Rush Street Bridge was the bridge for this area. The opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1920 created a new commercial district, the concept for the Magnificent Mile was part of the 1909 Burnham Plan of Chicago. It was constructed during the 1920s to replace Pine Street, which had been lined with factories and warehouses near the river, the earliest building constructions varied in style, but challenged new heights in construction. The name the Magnificent Mile is a trademark of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association. Soon the property values driven by the shopping districts were pricing out the nearby artists of Tower Town. Rubloff and Zeckendorf successfully developed and promoted the area until it became one of the most prestigious addresses of the city and that distinction holds today, and spurred new investment along the Magnificent Mile and throughout the Near North Side. After 1950, suburban development reduced the Loops daily significance to many Chicagoans as downtown retail sales slipped, however, the Magnificent Mile kept a luxury shopping district close to the central business district. The opening of the 74-story Water Tower Place in 1975 marked the return of Chicago to retailing prominence, by 1979, the State Street commercial corridor had lost its commercial vitality and was closed to street traffic for renovation including sidewalk widening until 1996. The area also has a concentration of the citys major media firms, such as the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The American Planning Association selected The Magnificent Mile as one of the 10 Great Streets for 2007 through its Great Places in America program, in recent years, The Magnificent Mile has added trees and flower-filled medians to reflect the changing seasons. The Magnificent Mile is also notable for its three shopping centers, Water Tower Place, The Shops at North Bridge, and 900 North Michigan Shops
11.
Bloomingdale's
–
Bloomingdales is a luxury department store owned by Macys, Inc. Brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale founded Bloomingdales in 1861, the pair were sons of Benjamin Bloomingdale, a Bavarian-born salesman who had lived in North Carolina and Kansas, and settled in New York City. In 1872, the Bloomingdale brothers opened their first store at 938 Third Avenue, at the time the East Side was a working class neighborhood with shanty towns, garbage dumps, and stockyards. Most of their customers and competitors were in the Upper West Side, within a few years after opening the store, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened, the new St. These additions brought to the East Side wealthy customers, who built brownstones that surrounded the new park, the store moved in 1886 to its current location on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue. It was designed with large glass display windows and large merchandising areas. Many of these products were European imports, by the start of the 20th century, Bloomingdales growth had greatly increased, facilitated by its convenient location at a hub of New York Citys horse-drawn trolley system. Offerings at the time included ladies stockings at 10¢ a pair, $10 mens wool suits, the slogan appeared on billboards and on 5,000 free beach umbrellas which were offered to street vendors and delivery cart drivers. The popular upper class shopping area moved downtown along Sixth Avenue to between 14th and 23rd Streets, in 1913, the 59th Street Station of the Lexington Avenue subway was constructed in Bloomingdales basement, further reinforcing the All Cars Transfer to Bloomingdales slogan, and business recovered. By the 1920s, the covered the whole city block. In 1930, Bloomingdales moved to a new location off of Lexington, the building, which had grown to encompass the entire block, had an eleven-story addition and was completely redesigned by architects Starrett & van Vleck in the Art Deco style. In 1949, Bloomingdales opened its first branch store in Fresh Meadows, subsequently, Bloomingdales built a full line store in White Plains combining its Eastchester and New Rochelle stores. The same year Bloomingdales joined Federated Department Stores, now Macys, in 1961, all over in the US the company started using designer shopping bags to promote its Esprit de France exhibit. The design, by artist Jonah Kinigstein, was based on French tarot cards in dramatic shades of red, black, in 1973, the iconic Brown Bag appeared. These were designed by Massimo Vignelli, who designed the current store typeface. Fashion designer Michaele Vollbracht designed one of the shopping bags in red, black, and white of a formally dressed man on one side. Other artists who have designed shopping bags were fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, in 1969, Bloomingdales two branch stores opened in Garden City, New York on Long Island, and Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Bloomingdales opened home furnishing stores on the East Coast using products from the home furnishings department
12.
Henri Bendel
–
Its flagship New York store is located at 712 Fifth Avenue. Henri Bendel was the first retailer to have its own fragrance, to offer in-store makeovers, the retailer is credited with developing the shop-within-a-shop merchandising concept that’s in use in some department stores today. Henri Willis Bendel was born in Louisiana in 1868 and moved to New York to work as a milliner and he opened his first shop, in Greenwich Village, in 1895. In 1907, he began branding the brown-and-white striped boxes that are identified with the company. In 1913, Henri Bendel was the first retailer to sell Coco Chanel designs in the U. S, after Bendel’s death in 1936, his nephew became the store’s president and served until his retirement in 1954. Bendels nephew, who later founded Belgian Shoes, died in 1997, Geraldine Stutz was president of Henri Bendel from 1957 to 1986. Stutz had “a legendary eye for discovering the newest designers and using them first, ” including Perry Ellis, Jean Muir, Sonia Rykiel, Carlos Falchi, Mary McFadden, and Ralph Lauren. In 1958, Stutz turned the main sales floor into a “U-shaped ‘Street of Shops. During the 1960s, Andy Warhol was an in-house illustrator, beginning in 1994, Izak Zenou’s illustrations have appeared on Henri Bendel ads and promotional materials. In recent years, the retailer has aimed to grow from an “iconic New York brand” into “a nationally recognized accessories company. ”Beginning in 2008, in 2009, Henri Bendel stopped selling apparel. In 2014, the New York flagship store and website began selling only Henri Bendel-branded handbags, jewelry, fashion accessories and home fragrances, paul Blum was named Chief Executive Officer of Henri Bendel in 2016. Paul joined Henri Bendel from Fred Segal, where, as the executive officer his charge was to revitalize and expand the brand, reinventing the store environment. Creative Director Pina Ferlisi joined the company in July 2012, Ferlisi had launched the Marc by Marc Jacobs line, became the head of design at Gap, served as the creative director for McQ in London and was executive vice president of design for Coach. Henri Bendel was named Retailer of the Year in 2010 by The Accessories Council, the current Fifth Avenue flagship is located in two landmark buildings, the Rizzoli building and Coty building, as well as a new five-story building. During renovation of the Coty building,276 “masterwork” panes of glass commissioned from Rene Lalique in 1912 were restored, the glass fills three large windows that comprise the front of the second, third and fourth floors of the Henri Bendel flagship. Upon the store’s opening in 1991, it received landmark status from the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission, after Bendel’s nephew, also named Henri Bendel, retired from the company in 1954, the Bendel family sold the store to a group of investors. In 1980, Henri Bendel president Geraldine Stutz purchased the store with a group of investors from Genesco Inc. a retailing/apparel company that had owned Bonwit Teller and other stores, in 1985, L Brands acquired the Henri Bendel brand. Formerly Limited Brands, the Columbus, Ohio-based company is also the parent of Victorias Secret, PINK, Bath & Body Works, and La Senza and operates 2,917 company-owned specialty stores in the U. S
13.
Four Seasons Hotel Chicago
–
Four Seasons Hotel Chicago is a part of the Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain of luxury hotels. It is located in the 900 North Michigan skyscraper on the end of the Magnificent Mile overlooking Lake Michigan. The Four Seasons, The Peninsula, the Ritz-Carlton at Water Tower Place, Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, and the Langham Chicago are the only five 5-star hotels in Chicago. Opened in 1989, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago currently houses 345 guest rooms, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago will soon undergo its first renovation. The renovation will provide a French Art Deco design to the structure, patterned after a 1930s style
14.
Parking garage
–
A multi-storey car park is a building designed for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place. It is essentially a stacked car park, the term multistorey car park is used in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and many Commonwealth of Nations countries and commonly spelled with a hyphen. In the western United States, the parking structure is used. In some places in North America, parking garage refers only to an indoor, often underground, Parking ramp is used in the upper Midwest, especially Minnesota and Wisconsin, and has been incorrectly observed as far east as Rochester, New York. Parkade is widely used in Canada and South Africa Parking building is used in New Zealand. Architects and civil engineers in the USA are likely to call it a parking structure, since their work is all about structures, when attached to a high-rise of another use, it is sometimes called a parking podium. Natural or mechanical ventilation provides fresh air flow to disperse car exhaust in normal conditions, or hot gas, the earliest known multi-storey car park was built in 1918 for the Hotel La Salle at 215 West Washington Street in the West Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Holabird and Roche, the Hotel La Salle was demolished in 1976, but the parking structure remained because it had been designated as preliminary landmark status and the structure was several blocks from the hotel. It was demolished in 2005 after failing to receive landmark status from the city of Chicago, a 49-storey apartment tower,215 West, has taken its place, also featuring a multi-tiered parking garage. An alternative claim has emerged from Glasgow, Scotland, for a building that was built between 1906 and 1912, in the 1920s an English cartoonist imagined a hotel for cars, he drew a multi-storey car park. Many car parks are independent buildings dedicated exclusively to that use, the design loads for car parks are often less than the office building they serve, leading to long floor spans of 55–60 feet that permit cars to park in rows without supporting columns in between. The most common structural systems in the United States for these structures are either prestressed concrete floor systems or post-tensioned cast-in-place concrete floor systems. This saves land for other uses, is cheaper and more practical in most cases than a separate structure and it protects customers and their cars from weather such as rain, snow, or hot summer sunshine that raises a vehicles interior temperature to extremely high levels. In Toronto, a 2,400 space parking lot below Nathan Phillips Square is one of the worlds largest, car parks which serve shopping centres can be built adjacent to the centre for easier access at each floor between shops and parking. One example is Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA, a common position for car parks within shopping centres in the UK is on the roof, around the various utility systems, enabling customers to take lifts straight down into the centre. Examples of such are The Oracle in Reading and Festival Place in Basingstoke and these garages often have low ceiling clearances, which restrict access by full-size vans and other large vehicles. On 15 December 2013, a man was killed during a robbery in the garage at The Mall at Short Hills in Millburn, the ambulance responding to the shooting was delayed because it was too large to enter the garage. Parking structures are subjected to the heavy and shifting loads of moving vehicles, expansion joints are used between sections not only for thermal expansion but to accommodate the flexing of the structures sections due to vehicle traffic
15.
Limestone
–
Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
16.
Christmas
–
In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
17.
900 North Michigan Shops
–
900 North Michigan in Chicago is a skyscraper completed in 1989. At 871 feet tall, it is currently the eighth tallest building in Chicago and it was developed by Urban Retail Properties in 1988 as an upscale sister to Water Tower Place, one block southeast, and was the second vertical mall built along the Magnificent Mile. The building features a large, upscale shopping mall called 900 North Michigan Shops, Bloomingdales occupies the rear of its wide, six-story atrium, with other luxury shops and restaurants filling the remaining spaces. For this reason, it is referred to as the Bloomingdales Building. The mall opened with Henri Bendel as a junior anchor, offices originally occupied floors 8-29, but floors 21-29 were converted to condo units in 2007, leaving offices on floors 8-20. The luxurious Four Seasons Hotel occupies the middle floors of the tower, floors 47-66 are part of the 132 East Delaware Residences, these 106 condominiums were part of the original building plan. A large 12-story parking garage, with retail on the ground level, the exterior of the tower is clad in limestone and green glass which reflects the light. The building has a skeleton on which a concrete frame was erected for the upper floors. Because the building changed, cranes used to work on the lower floors could not be used for the concrete portion. Four lit lanterns atop the structure give it a distinctive skyline presence and they change colors for the Christmas season
18.
Berkshire Hathaway
–
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The company wholly owns GEICO, BNSF Railway, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, Pampered Chef, and NetJets, and also owns 43. Berkshire Hathaway averaged a growth in book value of 19. 7% to its shareholders for the last 49 years, while employing large amounts of capital. In the early part of Buffetts career at Berkshire, he focused on investments in publicly traded companies. According to the Forbes Global 2000 list and formula, Berkshire Hathaway is the fourth largest public company in the world, Berkshire Hathaway traces its roots to a textile manufacturing company established by Oliver Chace in 1839 as the Valley Falls Company in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Chace had previously worked for Samuel Slater, the founder of the first successful textile mill in America, Chace founded his first textile mill in 1806. In 1929 the Valley Falls Company merged with the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company established in 1889, in Adams, the combined company was known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates. Hathaway had been successful in its first decades, but it suffered during a decline in the textile industry after World War I. At this time, Hathaway was run by Seabury Stanton, whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the Depression, after the merger Berkshire Hathaway had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $120 million in revenue and was headquartered in New Bedford. However, seven of those locations were closed by the end of the decade, in 1962, Warren Buffett began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway after noticing a pattern in the price direction of its stock whenever the company closed a mill. Eventually, Buffett acknowledged that the business was waning and the companys financial situation was not going to improve. In 1964, Stanton made a tender offer of $11 1⁄2 per share for the company to buy back Buffetts shares. A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the offer in writing. Buffett later admitted that this lower, undercutting offer made him angry, instead of selling at the slightly lower price, Buffett decided to buy more of the stock to take control of the company and fire Stanton. However, this put Buffett in a situation where he was now majority owner of a business that was failing. Buffett initially maintained Berkshires core business of textiles, but by 1967, he was expanding into the insurance industry, Berkshire first ventured into the insurance business with the purchase of National Indemnity Company. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company, in 1985, the last textile operations were shut down. Buffett claimed that had he invested that money directly in insurance businesses instead of buying out Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshires class A shares sold for $258,000
19.
Grosvenor Capital Management
–
GCM Grosvenor is one of the worlds largest independent alternative asset management firms, with over $45 billion in assets under management and over 450 professionals. The firm’s Public Markets solutions group provides hedge fund investment management and it is one of the worlds top discretionary allocators to hedge funds with an estimated $26 billion in assets under management. It is one of the largest private markets fund investment and co-investment managers globally, GCM Grosvenors clients are mostly institutions, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth entities, banks, corporations, insurance companies, charitable organizations and endowments. The firm develops customized investment programs and also manages commingled investment products for its clients, the firm is headquartered in Chicago and is owned in part by Hellman & Friedman, a leading private equity financial sponsor. Grosvenor was founded in 1971 by Richard Elden and managed the first fund of funds in the United States. In 1973, Elden brought on a partner, Frank Meyer, Elden left Grosvenor in 2006 to start Lakeview Investment Manager, which runs an activist fund of hedge funds, and Meyer retired from the business. Michael Sacks, who joined the firm in 1990, is the current chief officer of the company. In January 2014, Grosvenor completed its acquisition of the Customized Fund Investment Group from Credit Suisse Group AG, CFIG was Credit Suisses third-party private equity business, investing some $20 billion with outside private equity managers. Official GCM Grosvenor Website HEDGE FUNDS OF FUNDS, Institutions lead the way
20.
John Hancock Center
–
The John Hancock Center is a 100-story,1, 128-foot supertall skyscraper at 875 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham, when the building topped out on May 6,1968, it was the second tallest building in the world and the tallest outside of New York City. When measured to the top of its masts, it stands at 1,500 feet. The building was named for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, from the 95th floor restaurant, diners can look out at Chicago and Lake Michigan. The Observatory, which competes with the Willis Towers Skydeck, has a 360° view of the city, up to four states, the Observatory has Chicagos only open-air SkyWalk and also features a free multimedia tour in six languages. The 44th-floor sky lobby features Americas highest indoor swimming pool, construction of the tower was interrupted in 1967 due to a flaw in an innovative engineering method used to pour concrete in stages that was discovered when the building was 20 stories high. The engineers were getting the same settlements for the 20 stories that had been built as what they had expected for the entire 99 stories. This forced the owner to stop development until the problem could be resolved. This situation is similar to the one faced during the construction of 111 West Wacker, wolmans bankruptcy resulted in John Hancock taking over the project, which retained the original design, architect, engineer, and main contractor. The buildings first resident was Ray Heckla, the building engineer. Heckla moved his family in April 1969, before the building was completed, wearing a wetsuit and using a climbing device that enabled him to ascend the I-beams on the buildings side, Goodwin battled repeated attempts by the Chicago Fire Department to knock him off. Fire Commissioner William Blair ordered Chicago firemen to stop Goodwin by directing a fully engaged fire hose at him, fearing for Goodwins life, Mayor Jane Byrne intervened and allowed him to continue to the top. The John Hancock Center was featured in the 1988 movie Poltergeist III, on December 18,1997, comedian Chris Farley was found dead in his apartment on the 60th floor of the John Hancock Center. On March 9,2002, part of a scaffold fell 43 stories after being torn loose by wind gusts around 60 mph crushing several cars, killing three people in two of them. The remaining part of the stage swung back-and-forth in the gusts repeatedly slamming against the building, damaging cladding panels, breaking windows, shorenstein had bought the building in 1998 for $220 million. Golub defaulted on its debt and the building was acquired in 2012 by Deutsche Bank AG who subsequently carved up the building, the observation deck was sold to Paris-based Montparnasse 56 Group for $35 million and $45 in July 2012. That same month, Prudential Real Estate Investors acquired the retail, in November 2012, Boston-based American Tower Corp affiliate paid $70 million for the antennas. In June 2013, a venture of Chicago-based real estate investment firm Hearn Co, the Chicago firm did not disclose a price, but sources said it was about $145 million
21.
Retail
–
Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to antiquity. Retailing involves the process of selling goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand is identified through a supply chain, Once the strategic retail plan is in place, retailers devise the retail mix which includes product, price, place, promotion, personnel and presentation. In the digital age, a number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels. Digital technologies are changing the way that consumers pay for goods. Retailing support services may include the provision of credit, delivery services. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products, sometimes this is done to obtain final goods, including necessities such as food and clothing, sometimes it takes place as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping and browsing, it not always result in a purchase. Retail shops occur in a range of types and in many different contexts - from strip shopping centres in residential streets through to large. Shopping streets may restrict traffic to pedestrians only, forms of non-shop retailing include online retailing and mail order. Retail comes from the Old French word tailler, which means to cut off, clip, pare and it was first recorded as a noun with the meaning of a sale in small quantities in 1433. Like in French, the retail in both Dutch and German also refers to the sale of small quantities of items. Also see History of merchants, History of the market place, open air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia and Assyria. These markets typically occupied a place in the towns centre, surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers, occupied premises in alley ways that led to the open market-place. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, in ancient Greece markets operated within the agora, and in ancient Rome the forum. In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling, merchants or peddlers, the Phoenicians, noted for their seafaring skills, plied their ships across the Mediterranean, becoming a major trading power by 9th century BCE. The Phoenicians imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit, the Phoenicians extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence. In around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed an alphabet which was much easier to learn that the complex scripts used in ancient Egypt
22.
Bloomingdales
–
Bloomingdales is a luxury department store owned by Macys, Inc. Brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale founded Bloomingdales in 1861, the pair were sons of Benjamin Bloomingdale, a Bavarian-born salesman who had lived in North Carolina and Kansas, and settled in New York City. In 1872, the Bloomingdale brothers opened their first store at 938 Third Avenue, at the time the East Side was a working class neighborhood with shanty towns, garbage dumps, and stockyards. Most of their customers and competitors were in the Upper West Side, within a few years after opening the store, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened, the new St. These additions brought to the East Side wealthy customers, who built brownstones that surrounded the new park, the store moved in 1886 to its current location on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue. It was designed with large glass display windows and large merchandising areas. Many of these products were European imports, by the start of the 20th century, Bloomingdales growth had greatly increased, facilitated by its convenient location at a hub of New York Citys horse-drawn trolley system. Offerings at the time included ladies stockings at 10¢ a pair, $10 mens wool suits, the slogan appeared on billboards and on 5,000 free beach umbrellas which were offered to street vendors and delivery cart drivers. The popular upper class shopping area moved downtown along Sixth Avenue to between 14th and 23rd Streets, in 1913, the 59th Street Station of the Lexington Avenue subway was constructed in Bloomingdales basement, further reinforcing the All Cars Transfer to Bloomingdales slogan, and business recovered. By the 1920s, the covered the whole city block. In 1930, Bloomingdales moved to a new location off of Lexington, the building, which had grown to encompass the entire block, had an eleven-story addition and was completely redesigned by architects Starrett & van Vleck in the Art Deco style. In 1949, Bloomingdales opened its first branch store in Fresh Meadows, subsequently, Bloomingdales built a full line store in White Plains combining its Eastchester and New Rochelle stores. The same year Bloomingdales joined Federated Department Stores, now Macys, in 1961, all over in the US the company started using designer shopping bags to promote its Esprit de France exhibit. The design, by artist Jonah Kinigstein, was based on French tarot cards in dramatic shades of red, black, in 1973, the iconic Brown Bag appeared. These were designed by Massimo Vignelli, who designed the current store typeface. Fashion designer Michaele Vollbracht designed one of the shopping bags in red, black, and white of a formally dressed man on one side. Other artists who have designed shopping bags were fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, in 1969, Bloomingdales two branch stores opened in Garden City, New York on Long Island, and Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Bloomingdales opened home furnishing stores on the East Coast using products from the home furnishings department
23.
Gucci
–
Gucci is an Italian luxury brand of fashion and leather goods, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by the French holding company Kering. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921, Gucci is also the biggest-selling Italian brand. Gucci operates about 278 directly operated stores worldwide as of September 2009, in the year 2013, the brand was valued at US$12.1 billion, with sales of US$4.7 billion. In the Forbes Worlds Most Valuable Brands list, Gucci is ranked the 38th most valuable brand, as of January 2015, the creative director is Alessandro Michele. With beginnings at the end of the 19th century, the Gucci company became one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of leather goods, clothing. As an immigrant hotel worker in Paris and later London, young Guccio Gucci was impressed with the luggage he saw urbane guests bring with them. Before leaving, he visited the manufacturer, H. J. Cave & Sons, upon returning to his birthplace of Florence, a city distinguished for high-quality materials and skilled artisans, he established a shop in 1920 that sold fine leather goods with classic styling. Although Gucci organized his workrooms for industrial methods of production, he maintained traditional aspects of fabrication, initially, Gucci employed skilled workers in basic Florentine leather crafts, attentive to finishing. With expansion, machine stitching was a method that supported construction. Together with three of his sons, Aldo Gucci, Vasco Gucci, and Rodolfo Gucci, Gucci expanded the company to include stores in Milan and Rome as well as additional shops in Florence. Guccis stores featured such finely crafted leather accessories as handbags, shoes, the company made handbags of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II as a result of material shortages. The canvas, however, was distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red, after the war, the Gucci crest, which showed a shield and armored knight surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name, became synonymous with the city of Florence. Aldo and Rodolfo Gucci further expanded the horizons in 1953 by establishing offices in New York City. Film stars and jet-set travelers to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s brought their glamour to Florence, movie stars posed in Guccis clothing, accessories, and footwear for lifestyle magazines around the world, contributing to the company’s growing reputation. Guccis distinctive lines made its products among the most frequently copied in the world in the early 2000s, pigskin, calf, and imported exotic animal skins were subjected to various methods of fabrication. Waterproof canvas and satin were used for evening bags, bamboo was first used to make handbag handles by a process of heating and molding in 1947, and purses made with a shoulder strap and snaffle-bit decoration were introduced in 1960. In 1964 Gucci’s lush butterfly pattern was custom-created for silk foulards, the original Gucci loafer was updated by a distinctive snaffle-bit ornament in 1966, while the Rolls-Royce luggage set was introduced in 1970. Watches, jewelry, ties, and eyewear were then added to the product lines
24.
Club Monaco
–
Club Monaco is a mid-priced, high-end casual clothing retailer owned by Polo Ralph Lauren. Each month, Club Monaco brings in a new collection, alternating between casual styles during the spring and summer and more formal offerings during autumn and winter. Originally, the company was best known for its black and white styles, with which different colors are paired. In 1985, Canadians Joe Mimran, Saul Mimran and Alfred Sung opened the first store in Toronto on Queen Street West and this store, which still exists today, originally included a cafe below the sales floor. The first US store opened in Santa Monica in 1989, until 1999, Club Monaco was a Canadian company and was based at Avenue Road and Bloor Street West along the Mink Mile in Toronto. It is now owned and operated by Polo Ralph Lauren, which acquired Club Monaco in 1999, Polo has allowed Club Monaco to exist as an independent entity within the group and has downplayed its ownership of the brand. Recently, Club Monaco has transitioned itself into a lifestyle brand that offers affordable luxury with modern sensibility. Each store has its own concept and design as well as a mix of different products. Club Monaco also contracts with outside designers to create a line of products such as jewelry designed by Erickson Beamon. Luxottica began distributing Club Monaco prescription frames and sunglasses in its outlets in 2007. In August 2013, Club Monaco launched their first footwear line consisting of high-quality leather flats, in the same month, the brand also introduced a higher-end label simply titled Collection. The womens design team is headed by Caroline Belhumeur. The mens design team was headed by Aaron Levine until he left for Abercrombie & Fitch, Caban established itself as an innovative and unique retailer, with a distinctive product mix and presentation philosophy. Caban was an offspring of Club Monaco, and Joe Mimran, in 2000, just after the launch, Club Monaco/Caban was purchased by Ralph Lauren, and began to lose focus and Mr. Mimran was ousted. In the summer of 2006, Ralph Lauren Corp. closed all of the Caban stores to focus on the Club Monaco in the United States, the last store to close was the flagship store on Queen St. West in Toronto. Caban opened its first lifestyle concept store in Montreal in the historical landmark Laurentian Bank building located at 777 St. Catherine Street Saturday and it closed the branch in 2006, after which Banana Republic opened its flagship Quebec store. Caban website, default Globe and Mail, caban closing Montreal Caban opening
25.
Lululemon Athletica
–
Lululemon Athletica Inc. styled as lululemon athletica, is a Canadian athletic apparel retailer. The company makes a number of different types of wear, including performance shirts, shorts. Key competitors include Athleta, Nike and Under Armour, the company was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, Canada. In 2001, the company began selling yoga wear, christine Day, a former co-president of Starbucks International, became chief executive officer in June 2008. In December 2010, Lululemon recalled some of the reusable bags that were made in China from polypropylene, based on reports of high levels of lead. In December 2013, founder Chip Wilson announced his resignation as chairman, in February 2014, the firm announced plans to open its first full store in Europe with a flagship shop in Covent Garden, London. Day announced her departure as CEO in June 2013 after one of the core products, black Luon yoga pants, were pulled due to the sheerness. In February 2015, Wilson announced that he resigned from the board, michael Casey, lead director of the board, replaced Wilson. Store managers have responsibility for the layout, color coordination. Seventy percent of managers are hired internally, according to a company source, in March 2015, the store expanded its accommodation to men by introducing anti-ball crushing pants, designed with additional latitude in the crotch region. In 2011, employee Brittany Norwood murdered colleague Jayna Murray at the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda, the case received intense media attention and became known as the Lululemon murder. This altercation began when Norwood attempted to steal a pair of lululemons famous yoga pants, the scene quickly escalated and ultimately ended in the use of 5 different weapons and 331 different wounds on Jayna Murray which lead to her death. There were complaints about shoddily made clothing which was too sheer as well as having holes appear, lululemons Chief Product Officer, Sheree Waterson, resigned following the fallout from the recall. The financial hit on earnings, and damage to the image of the Lululemon brand are credited with the executives forced departure. Founder Chip Wilson has made controversial statements. He said his company does not make clothes for women because it costs too much money. According to one report, comments such as these led to Wilsons resignation as chairman, in August 2012, Lululemon filed suit against Calvin Klein and supplier G-III Apparel Group for infringement of three Lululemon design patents for yoga pants. The lawsuit was somewhat unusual as it involved a designer seeking to assert Intellectual Property protection in clothing through patent rights
26.
Kate Spade
–
Kate Valentine, formerly known as Kate Spade, is an American fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the namesake and former co-owner of the designer brand, in 2006, she sold the last of her shares in that company. In 2016, she and her partners launched a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine. Brosnahan was born in Kansas City, Missouri and she graduated from St. Teresas Academy, an all-girl Catholic high school. She attended the University of Kansas and then transferred to Arizona State University, joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, in 1986, she worked in the accessories department of Mademoiselle in Manhattan, where she was credited in the magazines masthead with her maiden name as Katy Brosnahan. While at Mademoiselle, she moved in with Andy Spade, a native of Scottsdale, the two had worked side-by-side as salespersons in a mens clothing store, Carters Men Shop in Phoenix, Arizona. Together, they were featured in the magazine as part of a story on couples in love. She left Mademoiselle in 1991, with the title of senior fashion editor/head of accessories, while working for Mademoiselle, she had noticed that the market lacked stylish and sensible handbags, and she decided to create her own. Kate and Andy Spade launched the New York–based design company kate spade handbags in January 1993. As the name implies, they initially sold handbags, but eventually extended to clothing, jewelry, shoes, stationery, eyewear, baby items, fragrances, tabletop, bedding. In 2004, kate spade at home was launched as a home collection brand and it featured bedding, bath items, china, wallpaper and various items for the home. She also shared about her style and philosophies in her three books, Manners, Occasions, and Style. The brand went international in 2004, when a store was opened in Aoyama, Tokyo, after selling the remaining portion of her ownership stake in the Kate Spade brand in 2006, Spade took time off to raise her daughter. In 2016, she and her partners launched a new brand called Frances Valentine, the names Frances and Valentine are from her family members and she added the two names to her own legal name. Neiman Marcus Group purchased 56% of the Kate Spade brand in 1999, Neiman Marcus then sold the Kate Spade label for $124 million in 2006 to Liz Claiborne Inc. which was later renamed to Fifth & Pacific. In February 2014, Fifth & Pacific changed its name to Kate Spade & Company, craig A. Leavitt became the new CEO, succeeding William McComb. Kate Spade New York has over 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the United States and their products are sold in more than 450 stores worldwide, in every time zone and on every continent. The company grew to include retail outlets as well as selling their products through such high-end stores as Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, in 1996, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Spade Americas New Fashion Talent in Accessories for her classic designs
27.
Michael Kors
–
Michael Kors is a New York City-based American sportswear fashion designer. Kors was the first women’s ready-to-wear designer for the French house Celine, Kors was born Karl Anderson, Jr. on Long Island, New York, the son of Joan Hamburg, a former model, and her first husband, Karl Anderson, Sr, a college student. His mother remarried Bill Kors when he was five, and his surname was changed to Kors, Kors mother is Jewish and his father was of Swedish descent. Kors married his partner, Lance Le Pere, on August 16,2011, in Southampton, Kors affinity for fashion started when he was very young. His mother thought his affinity might have caused in part by his exposure to the apparel industry through her modeling career. Michael, at the age of five, even redesigned his mothers wedding dress for her second marriage, as a teen, Kors began designing clothes and selling them out of his parents basement, which he renamed the Iron Butterfly. Kors also took acting lessons when he was young, but stopped when he was 14 when he decided to focus on becoming a fashion designer, in 1977, he enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. However, he dropped out after nine months and took a job at a boutique across from Bergdorf Goodman on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Shortly after, Dawn Mello, the director at Bergdorf. She asked if he would show his collection to Bergdorf Goodmans buyers, in 1981, Kors launched the Michael Kors womenswear line at Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. In 1990, the company launched KORS Michael Kors, a bankruptcy in 1993 forced him to discontinue the KORS line for a time. He managed to get back on his feet by 1997 and launched a lower priced line, in his tenure at Celine, Kors turned the fashion house around with successful accessories and a critically acclaimed ready-to-wear line. Kors left Celine in October 2003 to concentrate on his own brand, Kors launched his menswear line in 2002. The MICHAEL Michael Kors and KORS Michael Kors lines were launched in 2004, the MICHAEL Michael Kors line includes womens handbags and shoes as well as womens ready-to-wear apparel. Currently, Kors has Collection boutiques in New York, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, as of the end of the first fiscal quarter in 2016, Kors has over 770 Lifestyle stores around the world. The year 2011 marked the 30th anniversary of Kors business, michelle Obama wore a black sleeveless dress from the designer for her first term official portrait as First Lady and later sported Kors again at the 2015 State of the Union address. Joan Allen wore his gown when she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the The Contender, jennifer Garner wore a custom creation as an Academy Award presenter in 2006. As creative director of Celine, Kors designed many outfits for actresses to wear on screen, including Gwyneth Paltrow in Possession, one of his gowns was worn by Alicia Keys for her performance at Barack Obamas inaugural ball on January 21,2013
28.
Banana Republic
–
It typically has stratified social classes, including a large, impoverished working class and a ruling plutocracy of business, political, and military elites. This politico-economic oligarchy controls the primary-sector productions to exploit the countrys economy, American multinational United Fruit had a major hand in the creation of the banana republic phenomenon. The history of the first banana republic begins with the introduction of the banana to the US in 1870, by Lorenzo Dow Baker and he initially bought bananas in Jamaica and sold them in Boston at a 1,000 percent profit. The banana proved popular with Americans, as a tropical fruit that was less expensive than fruit grown locally in the U. S. such as apples. In 1913, for example, twenty-five cents bought a dozen bananas and its popularity among Americans was also spurred by the American railroad tycoons Henry Meiggs and his nephew, Minor C. Keith, who in 1873 began establishing banana plantations along the railroads built in Costa Rica to produce food for their railroad workers. This experience led them to recognize the potential profitability of exporting bananas for sale, by the 1930s, the international political and economic tensions of the United Fruit Company had enabled it to gain control of 80 to 90 per cent of the U. S. banana trade. The fruit exporters were able to keep U. S, more generally, it is a derogatory term for a country that is considered to have a weak economy, a dishonest or cruel government, and public services that do not work. In the early 20th century, instrumental in establishing the banana republic stereotype was the American businessman Sam Zemurray and he had entered into the banana-export business by buying overripe bananas from the United Fruit Company to sell in New Orleans. In 1910, he bought 6,070 hectares of the Caribbean coast of Honduras for agricultural exploitation by the Cuyamel Fruit Company. To this end, the army of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, led by Gen. Christmas, carried out a coup détat against President Miguel R. Dávila. The United States Government turned an eye to this deposition of the elected government of Honduras by a privately owned army. Government loans for the Honduran government, because of its resulting political instability, stalled economy, and huge external debt, the Republic of Honduras was excluded from international capital investment. Its financial deficit perpetuated its economic stagnation, and so perpetuated its banana republic image as well. In the event, the United States dollar became the currency of Honduras, the mercenary Gen. Lee Christmas became Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Honduras. Consul to the Republic of Honduras, nonetheless,23 years later, by means of a hostile takeover, Sam Zemurray assumed control of the rival United Fruit Company, in 1933. The inequitable land distribution was an important cause of poverty. During the 1950s, the United Fruit Company sought to convince the governments of U. S, in the Cold War context of the pro-active anti-communist politics exemplified by U
29.
Kate Spade New York
–
Kate Spade New York is an American fashion design house founded in January 1993 by Kate Spade and Andy Spade. Jack Spade is the line for men. Kate Spade New York competes with Michael Kors and Coach Inc. Katherine Noel Brosnahan was born on December 4,1962 in Kansas City and she grew up in Kansas City and went to an all-girls Catholic high school. She moved to Arizona, where she attended Arizona State University and it is there that she met her future husband, Andy Spade. Katherine majored in journalism, while Andy majored in architecture, after they completed their education, the couple had moved to New York City by 1986. It was in New York that Katherine worked as an editor for Mademoiselle. To get inspiration, Kate browsed local flea markets and secondhand stores and she also researched the styles, fabrics, and potential production costs of making her own handbags. The team slowly worked their way up the ladder until they were able to create a company that would be noticed by the public. Kate Spade New York was founded in 1993 by Katherine Noel Brosnahan, Kate Spade New York was started when Katherine Brosnahan walked around New York City and all she saw was lifeless purses. “The nothing black bag” was going to be brought down by Kate, originally the business started out with the Sam handbag and was only making color lively bags for consumers. Eventually, Andy withdrew $35,000 from his 401K account to fund the production of Kate’s handbags. Her debut line infused classic shapes, colors and fabrics into a now iconic square bag with a black label sewn to the outside of the bag that said “Kate Spade New York. ”Their main target market at this time was the upper middle class. In 1996, Spades company opened its first shop in New York Citys SoHo, Kate Spade rose in eight months after a journalist at Cleveland Research Co. recommended buying the shares because of the brand’s growth potential. Everywhere people went in New York from about 1997-2000, it would have been impossible to avoid seeing a few women carrying that simple nylon bag. The business was one of the first of its time to go digital, by using iPads, cell phones, the company started from nothing, and after 1998 it started to expand, being worth $70 million. Although she remained active, Kate Spade was sold in 1999 to the Neiman Marcus Group, in 2004, Kate Spade operated only 13 stores in the United States, and did not ship out of the country. The company initially sold handbags, but eventually extended to include stationery, personal organizers, address books, shoes, beauty products, perfume, raincoats, pajamas and it now has a full womens clothing line. The business’ clothing and handbag lines are featured in retail stores all across America
30.
Sur La Table
–
As of June 2015, Sur La Table sells products in over 100 stores in 30 states across the country and the District of Columbia, as well as through their web site and catalogs. Cooking classes are available in 75 stores, the company launched a new website and gift registry program in January 2011. Starting in 2014, Sur La Table has a blog, A Sharp Knife & Salt, the blog focuses on food, chefs, restaurants and products. Sur La Table plans to include a kitchen into every new store that they open, in French, sur la table means on the table. French pronunciation, Shirley Collins founded Sur La Table in 1972, in 1995, Collins sold the company. Sur La Table is currently owned by Investcorp, corporate headquarters are located in Seattles Georgetown neighborhood. As of 2005, it is the second-largest specialty cookware retailer in the US, after Williams-Sonoma, many of the stores offer cooking classes, which serve the dual purpose of teaching kitchen techniques and promoting the sale of Sur La Tables inventory
31.
L'Occitane en Provence
–
LOccitane en Provence and commonly known as LOccitane, is an international retailer of body, face, fragrances and home products based in Manosque, France. The company was founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan with the purpose to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native Provence, the company name means the Occitan woman. In 2010, the company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 1976, 23-year-old Olivier Baussan used steam distillation to produce oil from wild rosemary. LOccitane was named for the women of Occitania and this area existed during the Middle Ages, spanning southern France, north-eastern Spain and northern Italy. Occitan was the language and is still spoken as a second language in some areas of this region today. In 1976, using an old factory that was donated to him, Olivier Baussan revives the traditional art of Marseille soap-making in Manosque. The first LOccitane factory and boutique opened in 1981 in Volx, in the 1990s, Baussan sold a majority stake in the business to venture capitalists to finance expansion. As their approaches were incompatible, Baussan found himself excluded from daily management, in 1994, Austrian businessman Reinold Geiger bought a 33% stake in the group. Through a series of capital increases, Geiger became majority shareholder in 1996, Geiger, as the new chairman, asked Baussan to return as creative director and lead product development. The companys new focus on marketing strategy paved the way for international expansion, on 20 April 2001, Clarins became a financial investor in the company through subscription to approximately 5. 18% of the companys shares and €11,433,750 convertible debenture loan. On 22 February 2005, Clarins further invested €16,525,580 in convertible debentures, when the debentures were converted, Clarins held 23. 33% of the shares. The management executed a leveraged buyout in May 2007 following which Reinold Geigers stake rose from 31. 9% to 48. 7%, and Clarins stake was diluted to 10. 0%. LOccitane has shops in over 90 countries, in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa, with 170 shops in the United States. At the launch of its IPO in 2010, the announced that its products were sold in over 80 countries through over 1,500 retail locations. In the year ended 31 March 2009, it generated sales of €537.3 million and it planned over 650 store openings with the capital raised. In 2013, the company employed 6,600 people worldwide and created a new brand LOccitane au Brésil, the company stated that two-thirds of the proceeds would be used to finance store openings. China Investment Corporation invested US$50 million in the companys IPO as the cornerstone investor, following the listing of shares in LOccitane International SA, LOccitane Groupe SA detains 75% of the shareholding of the company, shares owned by Geiger, Clarins and other shareholders are indirect
32.
Montblanc (company)
–
Montblanc International GmbH is a German manufacturer of luxury writing instruments, watches, jewellery and leather goods, often identified by their White Snowflake logo. The start of the new century had a stimulating effect on inventors. Ingenuity and imagination helped the fountain pen to make its technical and commercial breakthrough as a writing instrument. It was a Hamburg banker, Alfred Nehemias, and a Berlin engineer, August Eberstein, together who recognised the signs of time and decided to produce simplicissimus pens, back in the 1906. Their first model was the Rouge et Noir in 1909 followed in 1910 by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, the Meisterstück name was used for the first time in 1924, for the top lines of fountain pens. Today, the Montblanc brand is on other goods besides pens, including watches, jewellery, fragrances, leather goods and eyewear. The company was acquired by Dunhill in 1977, following which lower price pens were dropped, today, Montblanc forms part of the Richemont group. Its sister companies include luxury brands Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloé, Montblanc is owned, through Richemont, by the South African Rupert Family. A trademark identified with Montblanc is the white stylized six-pointed star with rounded edges, representative of the Mont Blanc snowcap from above, the number 4810, the mountains height in meters, is also a commonly recurring theme. In January 2014, Hugh Jackman was announced as Montblancs Global Brand Ambassador, the Patron of the Art Series are found in editions of 888. These models are intricately adorned in diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones into precious metals typically in 18K gold, a signature mark on these include a Mother of Pearl Montblanc Star adorning the cap. Although cheaper, the Montblanc Writers Edition has been profitable and these pens are launched each year, commemorating the life and work of a particular writer, with their signature engraved into the cap of the edition. Usually, a symbol of their most distinguished work is engraved onto the nibs, of the fountain pen versions. Apart from a number the Limited Edition pieces carry a distinct number placing it within the release of the edition. In 2009 the Signature for Good limited edition was released, Montblanc donates parts of its proceeds to UNICEF. They claim to guarantee a minimum of US $1.5 million worldwide within one year, Montblanc will not sell customers or dealers replacement parts without the company performing the repair. When a pen is damaged, it is accepted at any Montblanc boutique where it will be forwarded to their service centre for evaluation, a quote for the repair will be provided to the customer if the pen is out of warranty. If the estimate is accepted, the repair is completed and Montblanc will provide a one-year repair warranty on the work that was done, the Nib Exchange service by Montblanc operates as follows
33.
MaxMara
–
Max Mara is an Italian fashion business. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti, in March 2008, the company had 2,254 stores in 90 countries. It sponsors the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, Achille Maramotti began designing couture clothing in 1947, and officially established the House of Max Mara in 1951. The Mara came from his surname, while Max referred to Count Max, Maramotti was one of the first to see that the future of fashion lay in the mass production of designer-quality clothes. The company remains in the hands of the family and they like to maintain a veil of secrecy about the activities of the company, Max Mara has spawned 35 labels, although Max Mara womenswear remains the core of the company. Other brands include Sportmax, Sportmax Code, Weekend Max Mara, Marella, Pennyblack, iBlues, Max & Co. and this last, founded in 1980 and named after Achille Maramottis great grandmother, is one of the best-known, in her obituary of Maramotti for The Independent. As of July 17,2013, Jennifer Garner is the first celebrity spokesperson for Max Mara, starting in September 2013, the campaign appears in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, W, InStyle, The New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune. Achille Maramotti was born on January 7,1927 in Reggio Emilia in Italy, Maramotti was educated in Rome and received a law degree from University of Parma. According to Forbes Rich List of 2005, Maramotti was one of the worlds richest men with a fortune of US$2.1 billion and he was a great patron of the arts, with a great love of the Expressionists, and was also a big investor in Italian banks. He died in Albinea, Italy 12 January 2005, Maramottis two sons and daughter, Luigi, Ignazio and Ludovica, followed him into the business, Luigi Maramotti is chairman of the company. After his death, according to Maramottis will, a large and important collection of art from Europe
34.
Mini Me
–
Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies, Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember. Before Dr. Evil was sent back in time to 1969, the clone was identical in every way, but he was one-eighth his size. Upon being introduced to his clone, Dr. Evil immediately declared, Mini-Me has almost no dialogue in the films, beyond an occasional frightened Eeeee. Otherwise, he is silent except for when he does his evil laugh with Dr. Evil and he also likes to lip-synch the occasional line when Dr. Evil raps. In the beginning of Goldmember, Dr. Evil asks him to Use your words like a big boy clone, at one point, he asks Dr. Evil to hug him after meeting Fat Bastard, who wants to eat him. Mini-Me often uses the finger as a means of insulting someone. On most other occasions, Mini-Me prefers to express himself through written notes, Mini-Me has a pet called Mini-Mr. Bigglesworth, which has appeared once in the series, in which Mini Me tried to gnaw on his ear. Mini Mr Bigglesworth is a version of Dr. Evils cat. He loves Belgian chocolate and terrorizing Scott Evil, Dr. Evils son and he is sometimes referred to and treated as a dog or other small object. Scott refers to him as That vicious little, Austin says, upon Mini-Me being knocked out, Poor little bugger. hes like a dog or something. In the third movies opening scenes, Dr. Evil uses a leash to restrain Mini-Me from attacking Scott, saying, Heel and he also has the tendency to dry hump random things. Nigel Powers, upon seeing him, says Blimey, I thought I smelled cabbage, Mini-Me is appropriately confused by the remark. Despite being a clone of Dr. Evil, Mini-Me is shown to be far stronger and tougher than his larger counterpart, as seen in Goldmember when theyre lifting weights in prison. He was also given a significant beating in Goldmember, in which he was tied in a case by Powers and slammed through shelves and glass tables. A memorable gag had him passing a series of notes to Foxxy Cleopatra, first stating she was so beautiful, when she smilingly disagreed, the second note asked if she was sure she didnt have a little clone in her. The third asked if shed like to, as seen by Nigel Powers reaction to Mini-Mes genitals, he seems to have a large penis, which may or may not also fall under the 1 /8 rule. He uses this as an advantage at the end of Goldmember when he gets Britney Spears cellphone number, in the film within a film in Goldmember, viz. Austinpussy, the role is played in cameo by Danny DeVito
35.
List of skyscrapers
–
This list of tallest buildings in the world ranks skyscrapers by height. Only buildings with continuously occupiable floors are included, thus non-building structures and it maintains a list of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world. The organization currently ranks Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest at 828 m, the CTBUH only recognizes buildings that are complete, however, and some buildings listed within these list articles are not considered complete by the CTBUH. The Petronas Towers, with their spires, are ranked higher than the Willis Tower with its antennas, despite the Petronas Towers lower roofs. Until 1996, the worlds tallest building was defined by the height to the top of the tallest architectural element, including spires and this led to a rivalry between the Bank of Manhattan Building and the Chrysler Building. The Bank of Manhattan Building employed only a short spire and was 927 ft tall and had a higher top occupied floor. At present, the Burj Khalifa tops the list by some margin, as of 2016, this list includes all 135 buildings which reach a height of 300 metres or more as assessed by their highest architectural feature. Worldwide, as there are plans in the five years for more than 80 buildings in the same height range. This measurement disregards distinctions between architectural and non-architectural extensions, and simply measures to the highest point and this measurement is useful for air traffic obstacle determinations, and is also a wholly objective measure. However, this measurement includes extensions that are added, removed. This measurement only recently came into use, when the Petronas Towers passed the Sears Tower in height, the former was considered taller because its spires were considered architectural, while the latters antennae were not. This led to the split of definitions, with the Sears Tower claiming the lead in this and the height-to-roof categories and this is a list of 82 buildings taller than 300 metres or 65 floors that are currently under construction. More than half of the buildings are located in China, ^ Destroyed buildings not included B. ^ Topped out but not completed, ^ Topped out in 1992, when construction was halted. Work was restarted in 2008, exterior work completed in 2011, council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat BuildingHeights
36.
List of tallest buildings in the United States
–
The worlds first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since that time, the United States has been home and still is home to some of the worlds tallest skyscrapers, New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the country. Eleven American buildings have held the title of tallest building in the world, New York City and Chicago have always been the centers of American skyscraper building. As of 2013, One World Trade Center, also referred by the name of Freedom Tower. Prior to the September 11,2001 attacks in New York City, the North Tower stood at 1,368 feet, while the South Tower was 1, 362-foot-tall. If they were standing today, they would occupy the fourth and fifth positions on the list below. There are numerous supertall buildings both proposed and under construction throughout the country, concentrated in New York City and Chicago and this list ranks completed and topped out buildings in the United States that stand at least 700 feet tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details, as well as antenna masts, an equal sign following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The Year column indicates the year in which a building was completed and this lists ranks completed and topped out buildings in the United States that stand at least 800 feet tall based on pinnacle height measurement, which includes antenna masts. Standard architectural height measurement, which excludes antennas in building height, is included for comparative purposes, * Indicates building is still under construction, but has been topped out. American cities with at least 15 completed skyscrapers over 400 feet high and this lists buildings that are under construction in the United States and are planned to rise at least 700 feet. Buildings that have already topped out are excluded. * Table entries with dashes indicate that information regarding building dates of completion has not yet been released and this lists buildings that are proposed for construction in the United States and are planned to rise at least 700 feet. A floor count of 50 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet released by their developers. * Table entries with dashes indicate that information regarding building heights and this table lists the 10 tallest buildings in the United States that have been demolished, destroyed, or are undergoing demolition. This is a list of the history of the tallest buildings in the United States and this lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in the United States. ^ According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, freestanding observation towers are not considered to be buildings and this structure is included for comparative purposes. Diagram of United States skyscrapers on SkyscraperPage
37.
World's tallest structures
–
The worlds tallest artificial structure is the 829.8 m tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The building gained the title of Tallest Building in the World. The second tallest self-supporting structure and the tallest tower is the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest guyed structure is the KVLY-TV mast. Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as towers, there are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers which measure over 600 metres in height, and only the tallest are recorded in publicly available information sources. The assessment of the height of structures has been controversial. Various standards have used by different organizations which has meant that the title of worlds tallest structure or building has changed depending on which standards have been accepted. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has changed its definitions over time, whether a structure, building or tower that is guyed is assessed in the same category as self-supporting structures. The tallest artificial structure is Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper in Dubai that reached 828.1 m in height on January 17,2009, by April 7,2008 it had been built higher than the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA. That September it officially surpassed Polands 646.38 m Warsaw radio mast, guyed lattice towers such as these masts had held the world height record since 1954. The Petronius Platform stands 610 m off the sea floor leading some, including Guinness World Records 2007, however, it is debated whether underwater height should be counted, in the same manner as height below ground is ignored on buildings. The Troll A platform is 472 m, without any part of height being supported by wires. The tension-leg type of oil platform has even greater heights with several examples more than 1,000 m deep. However, these platforms are not considered constant structures as the vast majority of their height is made up of the length of the tendons attaching the floating platforms to the sea floor. Despite this, Guinness World Records 2009 listed the Ursa tension leg platform as the tallest structure in the world with a height of 1,306 m. The Magnolia Tension-leg Platform in the Gulf of Mexico is even taller with a height of 1,432 m.2 m as measured to its architectural height. Burj Khalifa broke the record in all four categories for completed buildings. Due to the disagreements over how to measure height and classify structures, engineers have created various definitions for categories of buildings, One measure includes the absolute height of a building, another includes only spires and other permanent architectural features, but not antennas. The tradition of including the spire on top of a building, a modern-day example is that the antenna on top of Willis Tower is not considered part of its architectural height, while the spires on top of the Petronas Twin Towers are counted
38.
311 South Wacker Drive
–
311 South Wacker Drive in Chicago, USA, is a post-modern 65-story skyscraper completed in 1990. At 961 feet tall, it is the seventh tallest building in Chicago and it was once the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. Until 2015,311 South Wacker was also the tallest building in the world only by its street address. The lower level of the garden was designed for a possible connection via underground passageway to Chicago Union Station. The building also contains three levels of underground parking, the building contains both retail and commercial tenants. The lobby is a two-level 85-foot -tall glass-ceilinged winter garden and it used to have palm trees, still has a fountain, and is supported by a steel structure influenced by the Chicago L tracks and bridges. It was envisioned as a link or pedestrian station serving as a connection from the nearby Union Station through a disused streetcar tunnel under the South Branch of the Chicago River. Raymond Kaskeys bronze sculpture Gem of the Lakes looks over the garden from the Wacker entrance, the top of the building is a 105-foot -tall translucent cylinder, surrounded by four other smaller cylinders, which was inspired by the massing of the Tribune Tower. This makes it among the most visible Chicago skyscrapers at night, the five cylinders on top are lit at night by 1,852 fluorescent tubes, and a lantern at the top changes colors for various holidays and special events. 311 South Wacker is surrounded to the northwest by an area, commonly used as a lounging and public lunch area during warm months. This park is used to host local farmer markets, musical events, to the southwest is a parking lot. This land was originally to be occupied by two towers that were never developed due to office market conditions
39.
Willis Tower
–
The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-story,1, 450-foot skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The building is considered an achievement for its architect Fazlur Kahn. The Willis Tower is the second-tallest building in the United States, more than one million people visit its observation deck each year, making it one of Chicagos most popular tourist destinations. The structure was renamed in 2009 by the Willis Group as part of its lease on a portion of the towers space, the buildings official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. In 1969, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the largest retailer in the world, Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of employees in offices distributed throughout the Chicago area into one building on the western edge of Chicagos Loop. Sears asked its counsel, Arnstein, Gluck, Weitzenfeld & Minow to suggest a location. This latter site was decided upon, and preliminary inquiries determined that the necessary permits could be obtained, the next step was to acquire the property, a team of attorneys from the Arnstein law firm, headed by Andrew Adsit, began buying the property parcel by parcel. Sears purchased 15 old buildings from 100 owners and paid $2.7 million to the City of Chicago for the portion of Quincy Street that divided the property. Their team of architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan designed the building as nine square tubes, all nine tubes would rise up to the 50th floor of the building. At the 50th floor, the northwest and southeast tubes end, at the 66th floor, the northeast and the southwest tubes end. At the 90th floor, the north, east, and south tubes end, the remaining west and center tubes continue up to the 108th floor. The Willis Tower was the first building to use Khans bundled tube structure and this innovative design was structurally efficient and economic, at 1,450 feet, it provided more space and rose higher than the Empire State Building, yet cost much less per unit area. This structural system would prove influential in skyscraper construction. It has been used in most supertall buildings since then, including the worlds tallest building, to honor Khans contributions, the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois commissioned a sculpture of him for the lobby of the Willis Tower. The latter floor areas had to be designed to a plate, with a high window-space to floor-space ratio, to be attractive. Smaller floorplates required a structure to yield sufficient square footage. The height was restricted by a limit imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration to protect air traffic, the financing of the tower was provided by the Sears company. It was topped with two antennas to permit local television and radio broadcasts, Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971
40.
Chicago Board of Trade Building
–
The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4,1977, the building was listed as a National Historic Landmark on June 2,1978. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 16,1978, in 2012, the CME Group sold the CBOT Building to a consortium of real estate investors, including GlenStar Properties LLC and USAA Real Estate Company. The current structure is known for its art deco architecture, sculptures and large-scale stone carving, an aluminum, three-story art deco statue of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, caps the building. The building is a sightseeing attraction and location for shooting movies. On April 3,1848, the Board of Trade opened for business at 101 South Water Street, when 122 members were added in 1856, it was moved to the corner of South Water and LaSalle Streets. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed this building, in 1882 construction began of the CBOTs new home, which opened at the current location on May 1,1885. The building was designed by William W. Boyington, best known today for his work on the Chicago Water Tower and it faced Jackson Street with 180 ft feet of frontage, and was built from structural steel and granite taken from the Fox Island quarry near Vinalhaven, Maine. With a rear of enameled brick, it was 10 stories tall and featured a tower 320 ft tall containing a clock and 4,500 pounds bell. The interiors were finished in mahogany and frescoed and it was also the first building in the city to exceed 300 ft in height and at the time was the tallest building in Chicago. The building attracted tourists, visitors, and protesters, the building, on which two million dollars had been lavished in the midst of an economic depression, was denounced by the anarchists as. The crowning symbol of all that was hateful in the property system. The procession were cheered by thousands of spectators, viewing galleries were opened to the public for the first time in honor of the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition. In 1895, the tower was removed and the tallest building in Chicago record was then held by the 302 ft tall Masonic Temple Building. Built on caissons surrounded by muck, the house was rendered structurally unsound in the 1920s when construction began across the street on the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The 1885 building was demolished in 1929, and the exchange temporarily moved to Van Buren and Clark while a new building was constructed at the LaSalle. The 1885 allegorical architectural sculptures of 35 ft Industry and Agriculture, in 1925, the Chicago Board of Trade commissioned Holabird & Root to design the current building. The general contractors Hegeman & Harris built it for $11.3 million and it serves as the southern border for the skyscrapers hugging LaSalle Street and is taller than surrounding structures for several blocks
41.
111 South Wacker Drive
–
111 South Wacker Drive is an office tower located in Chicago. Completed in 2005 at 681 feet, the 51 story blue-glass structure is one of the tallest in the city and it sits on the site of the former U. S. Gypsum Building, one of the tallest buildings in Chicago to be demolished, designed by Lohan Caprille Goettsch Architects, the building is noted for its unique parking ramp. The ramps cyclical form creates a dramatic sloped ceiling for the main lobby underneath. The ramps corkscrew design is reflected outside as well, the pavement follows the lines set inside. The building is noteworthy for its sustainable design, becoming the first-ever project to be certified LEED-CS Gold by the U. S. Green Building Council. The original design called for a more extreme building and this 35 story,638 foot tower would utilize many of the existing caissons of the former U. S. The bulk of the building would be supported by a 120-foot base and 20 large diagonal braces connected from the corners of the base to the bottom of the office structure, the effect would have been a nearly symmetrical shape and a building that seemingly looked unstable. The minimalistic lobby would have been enclosed in glass and left space for a plaza with artwork. The plan was abandoned with the current design chosen instead. Tenants in the building include Deloitte, RR Donnelley, Harbor Funds, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, Bloomberg, Grippo & Elden LLC, Houlihan Lokey, and Locke Lord LLP. Shelbourne Development, the firm behind the Chicago Spire, had 6, 700-square-foot of office space on the 50th floor but vacated their offices in 2010 due to a dispute over $27,600 in unpaid rent
42.
AT&T Corporate Center
–
The Franklin Center is a 60-story supertall skyscraper completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. It stands at a height of 1,007 ft and contains 1,700,000 sq ft in the Loop neighborhood of downtown Chicago. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River and northeast of the Willis Tower with an address of 227 West Monroe Street. In the Loop community area of downtown Chicago, the supertall building is the tallest constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th century. It is the 5th tallest building in Chicago and the 13th tallest in the United States and it contains office and retail space and a 350-space garage. Tishman Speyer acquired the property in 2004 and renamed the adjacent USG Building as Franklin Center in 2007 after USG relocated its offices, the name was later applied to the entire complex. A1982 consent decree split the American Telephone & Telegraph Company monopoly into several entities with local service providers becoming part of a Regional Bell Operating Company, in the decade that followed, AT&T erected new buildings across the country including the AT&T Building in New York City. April 5,1985, AT&T issued a request for proposals that produced eleven respondents, Stein and Co. the winning realtor, sought Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as designers for the purpose of distinguishing a proposal from the nearby Willis Tower. AT&T employees began to occupy the office space April 3,1989, the building was built under a self-imposed comprehensive minority contracting and affirmative action package that met the citys 1985 30% hiring rule for public sector projects. Chicago mayor Harold Washingtons administration had passed an edict that 30% of the work for public sector projects be set aside for minority, in a show of support for this rule, Stein & Co. and AT&T adopted the rule for their private development. Designed by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the buildings form features setbacks at the 15th, 30th and 45th floors. Designed in the architectural style, it is a granite-clad steel-framed building resting on pile foundations. The structure is characterized by vertical lines, spiked roof pinnacles, granite cladding. The granite is a red color at the base. Above the 5th floor, the lighter rose-beige granite is protected by silk-screened aluminum panels, the building relies on Gothic detailing to showcase verticality. The buildings verticality evokes images of 1920s buildings, and the sturdiness of the structure is reminiscent of the Chicago Board of Trade Building, in addition to its design, the building relies on its location at the farthest corner from the Willis Tower to set it apart. The Otis elevators are spanned by a series of neo-deco light bands extending wall to wall, the building boasts two public lobbies and a mezzanine-level lobby. The lobbies are among the most lavish in Chicago, and they are all decorated with patterned marble floors and walls, bronze, gold-leaf oak trim, and stylized lighting fixtures
43.
Kluczynski Federal Building
–
The Kluczynski Federal Building is a modernist skyscraper in the downtown Chicago Loop located at 230 South Dearborn Street. The 45-story structure was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and it is 562 feet tall and stands on the site previously occupied by the Chicago Federal Building by the architect Henry Ives Cobb. It was named in honor of U. S, Kluczynski, who represented Illinoiss 5th congressional district from 1951 to 1975 after his death that year. This is one of three buildings by van der Rohe in the Federal Center Plaza complex, the others are the US Post Office, the Kluczynski Building is constructed of a steel frame and contains 1,200,000 sq ft of space. The exterior is sheathed in bronze-tinted glass set into bright aluminum frames, beneath the windows are steel spandrel panels painted flat black and windows are separated horizontally by steel mullions of projecting steel I-beams also painted black. The two-story lobby is recessed allowing for a colonnade or pilotis to encircle the building at street level, the interior walls and floors of the lobby are covered in granite which entends to the plaza. The lobby contains several commemorative tablets which were removed from the previous building, the entire complex is based on a 28 ft grid pattern so that seams of the granite pavers in the plaza extend into the building lobbies and up the sides to create unity among the three structures. The Center resembles Mies earlier Toronto-Dominion Centre and was expanded in 1991 with the addition of the 28-story Metcalfe Federal Building to the south across Jackson Boulevard, alexander Calders sculpture Flamingo, a 53-foot red steel sculpture, was unveiled on the plaza October 24,1974. The sculpture was conserved and restored in 1998, the plaza is also the site of a weekly farmers market during the spring and summer seasons, open to the community. S. Senators from Illinois, Richard Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, following his election as president on November 4,2008, Barack Obama set up transitional offices in the building, prompting heightened security measures in the surrounding area
44.
CNA Center
–
CNA Center is a 600-ft, 44-story high-rise building located at 333 South Wabash Avenue in the Loop Community Area of Chicago. It was designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and was completed in 1972, as of 2014, CNA occupied 65 percent of the tower. Other occupants included The Chicago Housing Authority and United Way, the shorter red building was later restored to its original gray tone in 1999. The two buildings remain joined at the floor, CNAs Conference Center uses space on that floor. In 1999, a fragment of a window fell from the building. Windows had been cracking at the building ever since it had built in 1975. CNA Financial, a property company, later paid $18 million to settle the resultant lawsuit. All of the windows were replaced in an expensive retrofit. A computer program is used to calculate which windows need to be activated to create the proper message, CNA Center Lighted Window Message Archive Informative site
45.
Chase Tower (Chicago)
–
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60 story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet tall, it is the eleventh tallest building in Chicago, the tallest building inside the Chicago L Loop elevated tracks, Chase Bank has its U. S. and Canada commercial and retail banking headquarters here. The building is also the headquarters of Exelon, the building and its plaza occupy the entire block bounded by Clark, Dearborn, Madison, and Monroe streets. Before the building was constructed, the Morrison Hotel, on its site, was demolished in 1965. The building first opened in 1969 as First National Plaza, when constructed, it was the headquarters of First Chicago Corporation. In 1998, it became the headquarters for Bank One Corporation, chases retail bank division is based in the tower. Since May 2005 the National Public Radio show Wait Wait, dont Tell Me. is taped on Thursday nights before a live audience at the Chase Auditorium under the plaza. Design architects for the construction were C. F, murphy Associates, Stanislaw Z. Gladych and Perkins and Will. The ground floor is home to the largest Chase Bank branch in Chicago with 22 ATMs
