In Memory: Robert Diamant, Former SOM Partner

Robert Diamant, former Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Managing Partner, passed away on January 11, 2015 at the age of 92.  Diamant, a native of Hungary, joined the Chicago office of SOM in 1949 after obtaining his professional education at Hungarian Polytechnical Institute and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He began his professional career as … Continued

Internship Experiences: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

The Thames Basin is set to face many challenges in the future: climate change, a growing population and economic requirements all present developmental challenges, as well as major sources of uncertainty. Having previously worked on a voluntary project producing a vision for planning in the Great Lakes Basin over the next hundred years, Skidmore Owings … Continued

New Horizons: Eight Daring New Buildings Around the World

Dazzling the eye and defying expectations, these extraordinary buildings—whether a museum or a marketplace, four stories or 104—represent architecture’s avant-garde, leading the way to a bright, bold future.

The World’s Most Spectacular New Airports

Designed to reference the feathers in a peacock’s tail – and mirror traditional Indian open-air pavilions – the concrete canopy on this new terminal is part of a wider trend to reflect local architecture within airports. This addition to Mumbai airport was opened in February 2014 and is the vision of US firm SOM, whose … Continued

Benton Johnson to Present About Sustainable Mass Timber Structures

Benton Johnson, SOM Associate, will present “Urban Mass Timber: Rethinking Embodied Energy” at The University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Architecture and Design on January 21, 2015. The event, which is part of the Governor’s Chair Seminar Series, is held by the Governor’s Chair for Energy and Urbanism, a partnership between the University of Tennessee … Continued

New Manhattan Condos Offer Old-World Motor Courts

New York’s luxury condo developers are pitching a solution to curbside parking in ankle-deep slush: an old-world motor court… In the early stages of designing [252 East 57th Street], designers visited a number of elegant, prewar buildings for inspiration. They ultimately decided to incorporate a gated porte cochère—similar to a motor court, only smaller—into the … Continued

SOM’s Exchange House Wins Big

Year after year in the early 1990s, SOM’s Exchange House in London won award after award for its design and engineering.  Now it’s topped them all – with the prestigious AIA National 25 Year Award.  For good reason. It’s something of an engineering marvel – a ten-story building with arches seven stories tall. Four of … Continued

SOM’s 252 East 57th Street Featured in the New York Post

Finally, the snaky 93-unit 252 E. 57th St. residences, set to be completed in 2016, was inspired by the iconic, wavy Aalto vase. Sculpted by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the facade’s curved-glass panels bring postcard views, the East River and Central Park among them, and a deep-reaching light to buyers (from $4.19 million to $21.25 … Continued

SOM Associate Director Scott Habjan to Chair AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards Jury

SOM Associate Director Scott Habjan will chair the 2015 AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards jury. Organized by the American Institute of Architects and the Academy of Architecture for Health, the annual program recognizes exceptional healthcare building design. According to the awards brief, the AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards “highlight the trends of healthcare facilities and the future … Continued

Nicholas Holt to Serve as an Expert on NYC Mayor’s Green Buildings Technical Working Group

SOM Technical Director Nicholas Holt has been chosen to serve as an expert on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Green Buildings Technical Working Group. Holt will join other leaders to help shape policies and programs that support the city’s dramatic greenhouse gas reduction goals. SOM is the only architecture firm represented on the … Continued