At 829.8 m (2,722 ft) the world’s tallest completed man-made structure is still a long way short of a building’s possible height. The technical know-how that enabled construction of the 162-story Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai could actually take it a mile high… But why would you want to? asks Brian Lee, whose Chicago-based global … Continued
In the October 2016 issue of DETAIL, an international architecture and engineering journal, SOM Director Charles Besjak describes the structural engineering of Terminal 2 at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, in Mumbai. Designed and engineered by SOM to accommodate up to 40 million passengers per year, the 410,000-square-meter facility features a number of structural innovations. The … Continued
On Monday, December 5th, SOM Associate Director Benton Johnson will deliver a lecture at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. His talk, titled “Architecture and Structures in the Computational Age,” will cover recent advances in computer-aided design and their effects on the architecture and engineering design process at SOM. A leading technical designer at … Continued
Most students on a college visit will likely notice—even on some of the most traditional university campuses—at least one cold, stark, gray Brutalist building. College administrations sought out these hulking, no-nonsense structures in the 1960s and ’70s because they were both cost-effective, and, at the time, on trend… Northwestern University Library, Northwestern University Designed by … Continued
In the city within a city rising west of Pennsylvania Station are many astonishing sights. The most astonishing—for the moment, anyway—is a mammoth steel structure, as long as a city block, that seems to float 51½ feet over the ground at Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street… The $1 billion skyscraper, called 1 Manhattan West, will … Continued
SOM Structural and Seismic Engineering Partner Mark Sarkisian will speak at the 24th Annual Academic Conference on China High-Rise Building Structural Design. He will deliver a keynote presentation, titled “High-Rise of the Future: Inspired by Nature,” ?on Wednesday, November 30th. The conference, which will be held in Suzhou, China, is hosted by the Architectural Society of China. The four-day event will … Continued
Two SOM projects—Chicago Public Library, Chinatown Branch and JTI Headquarters—are 2016 finalists in Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Awards. The program, now in its 11th year, honors the most significant interior design projects around the world. The Chicago Public Library, Chinatown Branch serves as a new civic, educational, and social hub for Chicago’s Chinatown … Continued
The soaring spires, the sloping shores, the straitjacket of the street grid — many things give form to the great metropolis. The skyline may be our most recognizable feature, despite how unrecognizable it can often be… “One World Trade Center has had such an impact. The architecture is really wonderful, and then there’s the symbolism of the … Continued
At the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Excellence in Business (Ebbies) Awards on Wednesday, November 16th, SOM was named recipient of this year’s Global Impact Award. The Global Impact Award, sponsored by the San Francisco Center for Economic Development, is awarded each year to a company or individual in recognition of their contributions to … Continued
SOM Technical Partner Keith Boswell will deliver a presentation at Glass Performance Days (GPD) Cuba, taking place in Havana on Tuesday, December 6th. GPD is an independent forum dedicated to the development of the global glass industry through education. This year, it is held in conjunction with CUBA GLASS 2016, the first international glass industry … Continued