At the end of World War II, SOM undertook what would be one of its foundational urban design projects—creating a plan for the “atom bomb city” of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. SOM designed a Master Plan that would be both an important step in the evolution of American urban planning and a catalyzing agent for the firm to think about the processes and principles of urban planning.

Project Facts

Completion Year: 1949
Site Area: 8,960 acres

Project Awards

1945 • U.S. War Department • Certificate
1946 • Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering • Award for Town Design