Washington Mutual Tower is one of the architectural wonders of Seattle city. For its architectural splendor The New York Times in 1988 labeled Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle as one of the three best new office buildings of the country. It was praised by various well known magazines including Walter McQuade and Architecture Magazine for its exceptional architecture.
Facts about Washington Mutual Tower
This 55-storeyed magnificent building was constructed by Wright Runstad & Company. Kohn Pederson Fox and The McKinley Architects were the ones who designed the unique building. A huge crane measuring 895 feet 8 inches, which was the tallest crane ever produced was used for the construction. From the building spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains, Lake Union, Elliott Bay and the Cascade can be enjoyed.
Architecture of Washington Mutual Tower
The height of this wonderful structure is 772 ft and is spread over 55 floors. There is an extensive use of granite and emerald-green-glass in the construction of the building. The Washington Mutual Tower houses a pedestrian plaza with shops at three levels of the building and a public atrium in front of the plaza.
On the Second Avenue a sculpture "New Archetypes" was installed in the year 1990. The renowned French sculptors, Anne and Patrick Poirier chiseled this lovely piece especially for Washington Mutual Tower. The tower is considered as a notable piece of public art in Seattle.
A number of well known offices are located in this high rise building. The Washington Mutual Bank's world headquarters are located in this magnificent building. Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle has been recognized as one of the most stunning high-rise buildings ever built in Seattle.
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The ‘World of Commerce and Industry' is among the largest and most diverse of all the exhibitions. Exhibits from various countries including United Arab Republic, Canada, Japan, China, Sweden, India and France were displayed at the fair. The major exhibitors include the Ford Motor Company, Standard Oil, General Electric and IBM.
The ‘World of Science’ was exhibited on the southern part of the fairground, the “space gothic” arches were surrounded by the various science exhibits. The Boeing’s Spacearium was the main attraction in this area, which took the visitors on a10-minute pleasure trip to an imaginary world of outer galaxies.
Celebrities at Century 21 Seattle World's Fair
The visitors were enchanted by the charm of Century 21 Seattle World's Fair for six months, and attracted huge number of celebrities to the city of Seattle. Lawrence Welk, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Victor Borge, The New York City Ballet, Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Johnny Mathis, Maurice Chevalier are some of the star performers of the fair. Some of the celebrities who visited the fair to enjoy the glamour and charm included Prince Phillip of England, George Burns, John Wayne, Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov, Jack Lemmon, Bobby Kennedy along with his wife Ethel and their children, Lyndon Johnson, Carl Reiner, Lassie, Carol Channing, polio-vaccine developer Jonas Salk, Richard Nixon, Walt Disney and Olympic gold medallist Rafer Johnson.
The fair was finally closed on 21st October 1962. It ended with a grand closing ceremony, which included performances by the lively World’s Fair Band, speeches by dignitaries, national anthem sung by opera star Patrice Munsel, fireworks and the final announcement of the closure of the fair. Some of the exhibits like the Space Needle and the Monorail still stand majestically as the true testimony of this grand event.
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