As a design director for SOM, José Luis Palacios oversees the design of projects for the firm’s Los Angeles office. His interests and studies vary from physics and mathematics to philosophy and architecture. With over 20 years of professional experience, his focus has been in the "making” of buildings offering simple and artful solutions to complex problems that entail immense technical knowledge and a profound attention to detail. His design approach is methodical and pragmatic yet inventive and innovative.

His distinguished professional career began at SOM, where his design skills were early evidenced when he was appointed as a primary designer for the Texas Commerce Tower project. His outstanding body of work, currently in excess of 35 million square feet, extends over a broad range of building types including corporate offices, build-to-suit campus environments, and a handful of transportation-related projects, as well as an array of civic and government office and public safety complexes.