U.S. Bank Tower
U.S. Bank Tower is the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles, California and the tallest west of the Mississippi. Standing in at 310m (1,018ft), it is also one of the tallest in the world. It consists of 73 stories above ground and 2 stories below ground. Construction was begun in 1987 and completed in 1990. It is located at 633 West Fifth Street and cost US$350 million to build.
The tower has a large glass "crown" at its top that is illuminated at night. It is also the tallest structure in actively seismic region, so its structural design was made to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter Scale. In the movie ''Independence Day'\', it was the first thing destroyed by the aliens.
It was formerly known as Library Tower due to its proximity to Los Angeles' Central Library. It was also known for a time as First Interstate World Center after being bought by First Interstate Bank. The name Library Tower was restored after Interstate merged with Wells Fargo, until March 2003, when it was bought by U.S. Bancorp and renamed to U.S. Bank Tower.
The architectural firm that designed it was Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
