Architect who designed iconic Chicago skyscraper formerly known as the Sears Tower dies at 84

Architect of Chicago’s former Sears Tower dies

CHICAGO — Bruce J. Graham, the pioneering architect who designed the iconic Chicago skyscraper formerly named the Sears Tower, has died. He was 84.

Chicago-based public relations firm SCC Grossman says Graham died Saturday at his home in Hobe Sound, Fla. The firm, which was hired by Graham’s family, said Monday that Graham died of complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The 110-story Sears Tower was renamed the Willis Tower last year. The skyscraper opened in 1974 and was the world’s tallest until the Petronas Twin Towers opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1996.

The Chicago tower remains the tallest in the U.S.

Graham also designed Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center. The black, X-marked structure on the city’s Michigan Avenue was completed in 1970.