Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: A Five-Volume Monograph

For the first time, a near-complete history of the legendary architecture firm

New York - June 25, 2009 - The Monacelli Press and the Partners of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) are proud to announce the publication of a five-volume monograph on SOM:

• SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1950–1962
• SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1963–1973
• SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1973–1983
• SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1984–1996
• SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1997–2008

This is a monumental publishing event, surveying six decades of the most iconic buildings designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The legendary American architecture firm, founded in 1936, has become one of the largest and most influential firms in the United States and has achieved worldwide prominence with nine offices around the globe.

Together, these five books offer a near-complete history of the firm’s work from its iconic modern buildings of the 1950s through to exceptional current projects, each generously illustrated with archival and new color images, site and building plans, and drawings. Each book includes an essay by a noted architectural critic contextualizing the importance of SOM’s contribution to global architecture.

The first three volumes are reprints of the original editions published by Verlag Gerd Hatje in 1963, 1974, and 1984, while the final two volumes are newly compiled with material from the past 25 years. The acclaimed modern aesthetic of the first three volumes’ graphic presentation has been updated for the new books, and all the covers have been redesigned to create a consistent set.

SOM: 1950–1962 introduces the International Style of architecture to the New York skyline during the mid-century with Lever House, and moves forward with technological innovations that SOM pioneered in such legendary projects as the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, the Chase Manhattan Bank building in New York, and the Inland Steel Headquarters in Chicago, among many others. The introduction is written by Henry-Russell Hitchcock, who was one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished architectural historians and teachers.

SOM: 1963–1973 includes what was for almost thirty years the world’s tallest building and a breakthrough achievement in structural engineering—Chicago’s Sears Tower (1973), as well as that city’s John Hancock Center (1970) and many other important American skyscrapers and headquarters buildings, many of which are now landmarks. The introduction by Arthur Drexler—a highly influential curator and director of the department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art for more than 35 years—explains the social and architectural relevance of SOM’s work and subjects it to a critical appraisal.

SOM: 1973–1983 shows how, after the retirements of many of the firm’s well-known founding partners, “creative dissidence” began to define the extraordinary variety of SOM’s work. This decade belonged to the city, particularly the urban office tower; wide public interest in preservation of historic buildings also defined these years. At the same time, in the face of a barren domestic economy, the firm sought work abroad, designing universities, new towns, airport terminals, and commercial buildings on several continents. Albert Bush- Brown, who was a renowned architectural historian and critic and coauthor of The Architecture of America, wrote the introduction and regional prefaces.

SOM: 1984–1996 provides never-before-published photographs, plans, and drawings of the firm’s projects from this time. The AT&T Building in Chicago and Worldwide Plaza and the Islamic Cultural Center in New York are among the buildings that represent the firm’s contextualism and inventive interpretation of historic precedents. At the same time, Exchange House in London demonstrates SOM’s continued commitment to modernism and technological expression. Many projects broke new ground in strategies for long-term energy conservation. Renowned critic and University of Pennsylvania professor Detlef Mertins provides the introduction.

SOM: 1997–2008 is a comprehensive monograph covering more than thirty of the firm’s recent built works. Among the buildings presented is 7 World Trade Center, the first structure built at Ground Zero after September 11, 2001. Other major projects include the Time Warner Center in New York, the Northwest Science Building at Harvard University, the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, and a portfolio of airports from New York to Singapore. Kenneth Frampton, one of architecture’s most influential critics, discusses the importance of these projects within the context of SOM’s history.

Publication Details

SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1950–1962
224 pages; $45 hc
($52 Can.)
ISBN 978-1-58093-220-2
Read introduction by Henry Russell Hitchcock

SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1963–1973
264 pages; $50 hc
($60 Can.)
ISBN 978-1-58093-221-9

SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1973–1983
288 pages; $60 hc
($72 Can.)
ISBN 978-1-58093-222-6

SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1984–1996
224 pages; $60 hc
($72 Can.)
ISBN 978-1-58093-223-3

SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1997–2008
256 pages; $60 hc
($72 Can.)
ISBN 978-1-58093-224-0

All five volumes are 8½ x 11 inches, illustrated throughout, and will release on November 17, 2009.