The Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI) honored 16 SOM structural projects at its annual awards dinner on June 6, 2015. These awards in part reflect the purpose of the SEAOI: to advance and advocate excellence in structural engineering and to aid in safeguarding the public. Two SOM projects were recognized in SEAOI’s annual Excellence in … Continued
The San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the SOM-designed San Bernardino Justice Center as a winner of a 2015 Citation Award in Architecture. It also bestowed Special Recognition upon SOM’s Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts District Master Plan in the Urban Design category. The organization’s Design Awards program celebrates the … Continued
The Copper Alliance announced SOM’s University Center at the New School as a recipient of the 2015 North American Copper in Architecture Award, at a ceremony held on May 14, 2015. Now in its eighth year, the awards program recognizes North American buildings that demonstrate the exemplary application of copper and copper alloys. This year … Continued
Two SOM projects, Denver Union Station and the Knowledge and Innovation Community, have been named finalists in the 2015 Global Awards for Excellence competition, organized by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The annual awards program recognizes projects that achieve a high standard of excellence in design, construction, economics, planning, and management. From the 22 finalists, … Continued
Today, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named the four regional winners and 13 finalists in its Best Tall Buildings Award. Held annually since 2008, the competition recognizes tall buildings—measuring 50 meters or more in height and with at least half of that height occupied by usable floor area The four regional … Continued
Forty-Seventh Street Between Manhattan’s Fifth and Sixth Avenues is renowned worldwide for its prominence in the gem industry. When a midblock site provided the opportunity to erect a symbol of this distinction, developer Extell commissioned architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design the International Gem Tower, a 34-story steel and glass office building whose … Continued
On Wednesday, the 17-member organization team led by Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, PennDOT and SEPTA that is developing a comprehensive plan for the 30th Street Station District will unveil three diagrams to the public presenting differing ideas and concepts for the long-dreamt about area surrounding the train station.
On June 25, 2015, SOM Materials Specialist Anjanette Green will participate in a webinar hosted by the International Living Future Institute. The event will focus on the materials component of the Institute’s Living Building Challenge, a sustainable building certification program. Green will join a panel of experts who have worked on successfully completed Living Building … Continued
Why should we even think that high-rise living has an effect on us? One does not, after all, see detailed psycho-architectural studies of ranch houses. The primary reason may be sheer novelty. “Given the age of our species, living more than a few stories up is a very recent phenomenon,” writes Robert Gifford in Architectural … Continued
In fact, all buildings move. This truth, which physics must tell us because human perception cannot, renders clear two humbling points: much of the world is not as solid as we think, and humans are awfully poor receptors. The Pentagon moves. Madison Square Garden moves. Even the Pyramids move. Perhaps only on a miniscule scale … Continued