Modernism on the Mall By the mid-1960s the internationally acclaimed modern art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn had earned a permanent place on the National Mall, and an architectural statement to support it. Washington, D.C., won out in a competition to land the privately amassed collection thanks to the efforts of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, … Continued
Crown Zellerbach Headquarters was the first International Style curtain-wall tower to be built in San Francisco, and has claimed a position as a lasting figure in the downtown streetscape. The project includes an epoch-making open floor design and a sweeping plaza layout. Occupying one-third of a triangular site, the building consists of a 20-story office … Continued
A unique structure for a unique site Characterized by its distinctive diagonal bracing system, One Maritime Plaza is a 25-story tower set astride a three-level public garage, designed by Wurster, Bernardi, and Emmons and DeMars and Reay, at the southern end of the Golden Gateway Center, a residential and commercial redevelopment adjacent to San Francisco … Continued
Built for the Union Carbide Corporation, this sleek tower, built over railroad tracks leading out of Grand Central Terminal, was unlike its neighbors on Park Avenue when it opened. Not only was it set back in a plaza, but it also stood out for its innovative structural engineering design, which responded to the constraints of … Continued
Glowing like an American Stonehenge, this giant, upside-down concrete “V” looks like a tribute to the Sun God, which in a sense it is. Designed in 1958-1959 by an SOM team led by Myron Goldsmith, the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope on Arizona’s Kitt Peak was the world’s largest instrument dedicated to viewing the sun at the … Continued
This high-profile project in downtown San Francisco, in the revered Civic Center Plaza, entailed the renovation of the California State Supreme Court building and the addition of an adjoining 14-story office tower. Preserving the classical, Beaux Arts-style courthouse while accommodating the contemporary needs of 11 government agencies were primary concerns. SOM tucked the addition behind … Continued
A future-proof design The Social Security Administration (SSA) serves millions of Americans, delivering monthly benefits to people of all ages and backgrounds. To continue supporting this essential function well into the future, the SSA needed a new home for its primary data center. SOM’s design for the agency’s National Support Center, set on 63 acres … Continued
The United States Consulate General in Guangzhou represents a new era in the design of diplomatic facilities. Representing American values while respecting Guangzhou’s physical and cultural landscape, the project consists of seven structures across the 7.5-acre site. The dominant structure is a four-story building that houses the primary diplomatic facilities of the Consulate General complex. … Continued
Clear structural composition and carefully designed details characterized this pristine modernist building when it opened in 1954. Surrounded by skyscrapers, this branch for the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company bank had only four stories, although city zoning regulations would have permitted the erection of a tall structure with rentable upper floors. Instead, the design concept was … Continued
Located directly opposite the Chicago Civic Center Plaza, the Cook County Administration Building (formerly the Brunswick Building) represents an early collaboration between three men synonymous with Chicago’s skyline: Myron Goldsmith, Bruce Graham, and Fazlur Khan. The Administration Building utilizes a tube-within-a-tube structural system. Rigid, hollow tubes make up the core and perimeter, bracing the building … Continued