Bruce John Graham (December 1, 1925 March 6, 2010) was a Colombian architect.

. Among his most notable buildings are the Inland Steel Building, the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the Hotel Arts in Barcelona and the John Hancock Center.[1] He worked with Fazlur Khan on all three constructions. Architectural historian Franz Schulze called him "the Burnham of his generationBorn on December 1, 1925 in La Cumbre, Colombia, Graham was the son of a Canadianborn father who was an international banker,[2] and a Peruvian mother. His first language was Spanish.[1] He attended Colegio San Jose de Rio Piedras, in Puerto Rico and graduated in 1944. He studied at the University of Dayton, Ohio and at the Case School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948 with a degree in architecture. When he first came to Chicago, he worked for Holabird and Root and joined the Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the largest architectural firm in the United States in 1951.[3] He later headed that office and was a long time friend of Mies van der Rohe.[3] He was deeply involved with many aspects of developing the city of Chicago, from city planning, bringing great public art to the city and involvement in individual projects Bruce Graham built extensively all over the world from his home in Chicago, to Guatemala, Hong Kong, London, Cairo, and many other cities. He was extremely involved with the University of Pennsylvania, especially the School of Fine Arts. He believed that teachers of Architecture should be currently involved in its practice

He was committed to the study of Architectural Theory and started the SOM Foundation. He also taught an Architectural studio at Harvard. Graham was a great collector of Art. He befriended Alexander Calder, Joan Mir, Chryssa and Chillida, to name a few. He invited these artists to create public works of Art for the city of Chicago. He believed that the architect should be informed by philosophy, history, music and literature to build great monuments. He wa Bruce died on March 6, 2010 at the age of 84 in Hobe Sound, Florida MAJOR PROJECTS 1958 - Inland Steel Building, Chicago, Illinois, USA 1970 - John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA 1973 - Sears Tower (renamed Willis Tower), Wacker Drive, Chicago, USA 1974 - First Wisconsin Plaza, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA 1992 - Arts Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

Willis Tower (formerly named, and still commonly referred to as, Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicag o, Illinois.[2] At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago, and over one million people visit its observation deck each year. Named the Sears Tower throughout its history, in 2009 Willis Group Holdings obtained the right to rename the building, as part of their lease on a portion of its offices. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower. On August 13, 2012, United Airlines announced it will be moving its corporate headquarters from 77 West Wacker Drive to the Willis Tower

 Burj Khalifa, Dubai CN Tower, Toronto Willis Tower, Chicago The Willis Tower remains the tallest building in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. With a pinnacle height of 1729 feet (527 m), it is the second tallest freestanding structure in the Americas, as it is 86 feet (26 m) shorter than Toronto's CN Tower, and is the only other freestanding structure in the Americas to exceed 1500 feet (457.2 m) in height. As of September 2011, the Willis Tower is the seventh tallest freestanding structure in the world (by pinnacle height), after the Burj Khalifa, the Tokyo Skytree, the Abraj Al Bait Towers, the Canton Tower, the CN Tower and theOstankino Tower. Preceded byOne World Trade Center(1971) Surpassed byPetronas Twin Towers General information Type Office, observation, communication Location233 S. Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60606 United States

 Construction started 1970 Completed1973 HeightArchitectural442.1 m (1,450 ft)[1] Tip527 m (1,729 ft)[1 ]Top floor412.7 m (1,354 ft)[1] Technical details Floor count108[2] (+3 basement floors)Floor area416,000 m2(4,477,800 sq ft)[1 ]Lifts/elevators104,[1] with 16 double-decker elevators, made byWestinghouse, modernized by Schindler Group REFERENCES Wikipedia (internet) Books

By Aswhin Durge