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The fair
The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair
The Space Needle was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew more than 2.3 million visitors. At 605 ft high, it was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River in the United States.
605 fthigh, once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River
The design
A napkin sketch and a flying saucer became one design
The design is a compromise between two people. Edward E. Carlson sketched a giant balloon tethered to the ground on a napkin, and the architect John Graham proposed a flying saucer. Victor Steinbrueck introduced the hourglass profile and the tripod design.
Building it
With one year left before the fair, the crew worked around the clock
In 1961 the investors found a lot of 120 by 120 ft, with only one year left before the World's Fair. The construction team worked around the clock, and the last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21.
The paint
Its paint colors were Orbital Olive, Astronaut White and Galaxy Gold
The body was painted Orbital Olive, the legs Astronaut White, the saucer Re-entry Red and the roof Galaxy Gold. The domed top, housing the top five levels, was balanced so that the restaurant could rotate with the help of one tiny electric motor.
Names
Other names considered were Star Tickler, Top Hat and Big Skookum
Among the names proposed by Carlson, Graham and Steinbrueck were Space Needle, Star Tickler, Top Hat and Big Skookum. The tower was privately financed and built by the Pentagram Corporation.
Day 2, morning
Next is Chihuly Garden and Glass.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Space Needle, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.