With superb writing and awesome photography, One World Trade Center by Judith Dupré is a masterpiece of a book in every aspect, including book design… Though meant to be a biography of this extraordinary building, this is not an architectural treatise, even though architecture is an integral part of the text. Dupré was masterful, giving us plenty … Continued
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have been selected by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and the City of Detroit Planning Department to develop a comprehensive plan for the city’s East Riverfront District. Early stages of planning will analyze of the area’s current building stock, pedestrian and car circulation, and land use patterns. One of the main early concerns is addressing the … Continued
On Wednesday, July 14th, the Board of Trustees? of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named SOM Structural and Seismic Engineering Partner Mark Sarkisian a 2016 Fellow in its Annual Awards. Fellows are recognized for their contribution to the Council over an extended period of time, as well as for their work and the sharing of their knowledge in the … Continued
In 2017, the SOM-designed Architecture and Arts Building at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) marks its 50th anniversary. This August, the College of Architecture and the Arts will host an exhibition on SOM’s 1960 master plan and building designs for UIC, which envisioned a new model for the American public university campus. “The Netsch Campus: … Continued
The Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI) has selected SOM Associate Benton Johnson as the winner of the 2016 Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Established in 2008, the award recognizes an engineer aged 35 or younger for outstanding achievements in structural engineering. “Ben is not only really good at solving given problems, he also displays a strong ability to explore … Continued
On Saturday, July 16th, SOM Senior Digital Design Professionals Veronica Quintero and Jason Chen will present at the Revit Technology Conference North America. Taking place in Scottsdale, Arizona, the event brings together industry experts to share insights on using Revit and related Building Information Modeling (BIM) software applications to drive innovation in building design and … Continued
At the PLEA 2016 Conference on Tuesday, July 12th, in Los Angeles, Senior Urban Designer Gunnar Hand, from SOM’s Los Angeles office, will present his paper and infographic “Regenerative L.A.: Los Angeles Beyond Sustainability” as well as chair and moderate panel sessions. The theme for this year’s conference is “Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments.” It marks … Continued
I love the American campus and will take any opportunity to experience a good one… I had visited the Air Force Academy—which was finished in 1963 to designs overseen by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—many decades ago, when you could still wander along the grid of the Parade Ground, feeling rebellious because you were not following the … Continued
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was established in Chicago in the 1930s by three midwesterners. From its earliest days, the firm was immersed in both modernism and skyscraper construction: The city was, at that time, trying to build itself bigger and taller than New York. As early modernism trickled into the U.S. from Europe, SOM … Continued
Rising sea levels are a worldwide problem, but for the approximately 500-mile shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, one partial solution may lie in something that is actually quite small: the 1.5-mile-wide mouth of the bay, where the Golden Gate Bridge crosses. If water could be stopped from surging through that opening, the San Francisco … Continued