The Space Needle was originally designed for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, WA. It was designed by Edward E. Carlson and John Graham. The Stuttgart Tower in Germany served as Carlson’s inspiration and lead him to design a large balloon that was tethered to the ground. Graham finished the design by turning the balloon into a flying saucer. Additionally, the hourglass profile shape of the tower was designed by Victor Steinbrueck.

The Space Needle can withstand 200 mile per hour winds, which was twice the building code requirement in 1962. The Space Needle withstands the structural damage of earthquakes with magnitudes below 9 and Category 5 hurricane winds. When an earthquake with a 6.8 Richter Scale rating hit the Needle in 2001, the only major effect was that the water in the toilets sloshed everywhere.

In 1993, new elevators were installed. These new computerized elevators descend at 10 miles per hour.

Until 2000, the Space Needle had two restaurants in the “hovering disk” called the Space Needle Restaurant (formerly known as the Eye of the Needle) and Emerald Suite. The restaurants were closed for SkyCity, a bigger restaurant with Pacific Northwest cuisine, which rotates 360 degrees in 47 minutes.