Rainier Tower
Encyclopedia
Rainier Tower is a 31-storey 156.67 m (514 ft) skyscraper
in the Metropolitan Tract
of Seattle, Washington
, at 1301 Fifth Avenue. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki
, who designed the World Trade Center
in New York City
as well as the IBM Building
, which is on the corner across the street from Rainier Tower to the southeast. Its construction was completed in 1977.
The skyscraper has an unusual appearance, being built atop an 11-storey, 37 m (121.4 ft) concrete pedestal base that tapers towards ground level, like an inverted pyramid
.
Beneath the tower is Rainier Square, an underground shopping mall. Both the mall and tower were originally named after Rainier Bank, which was merged in the 1980s into Security Pacific, which was eventually merged into BankAmerica.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in the Metropolitan Tract
Metropolitan Tract (Seattle)
The Metropolitan Tract is an area of land in downtown Seattle owned by the University of Washington. Originally covering , the 1962 purchase of land for a garage for the Olympic Hotel expanded the plot to ....
of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, at 1301 Fifth Avenue. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
, who designed the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as well as the IBM Building
IBM Building, Seattle
The IBM Building is a 20-story skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract at 1200 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington. The building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who also was architect of Rainier Tower on the corner diagonally opposite, and the World Trade Center in New York City...
, which is on the corner across the street from Rainier Tower to the southeast. Its construction was completed in 1977.
The skyscraper has an unusual appearance, being built atop an 11-storey, 37 m (121.4 ft) concrete pedestal base that tapers towards ground level, like an inverted pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
.
Beneath the tower is Rainier Square, an underground shopping mall. Both the mall and tower were originally named after Rainier Bank, which was merged in the 1980s into Security Pacific, which was eventually merged into BankAmerica.
External links
- Rainier Tower at Unico Properties
- Rainier Tower at Nordarts