Named One of the Best Inventions of 2011 by Time Magazine, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s (SOM) Al Hamra Firdous Tower will be the tallest building in Kuwait. The iconic structure appears to fold into itself, creating an efficient form designed to maximize views and minimize solar heat gain. The commercial complex will be complete early … Continued
There is no denying that One World Trade Center (WTC), the 104-story tower now rising at the northern end of the Ground Zero site, is a tremendously ambitious commercial real estate venture. The building, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with the developer Durst Organization holding a 10 percent stake, … Continued
Unless you’ve been living through a total media blackout, you’re by now familiar with exterior images of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Burj Khalifa-a tripartite tower rising more than 160 stories above Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to become the world’s tallest building. The more than 3 million square feet inside, meanwhile, have been kept under wraps. … Continued
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai is hopping. But the busiest airport in fast-growing India, it is also the most delayed airport in the world. It ushered through 17 million passengers a few years ago, 20 million the next, 24 million the next…And having made two separate trips to Mumbai to shoot this episode, … Continued
Some house important corporate meetings; others are family homes. Some are gearing up to welcome top athletes while others open their doors to school children each day. But all these buildings have one thing in common: This year they have won coveted architecture awards for innovative design and construction methods and for promoting sustainability.CNN puts … Continued
Located on a lovely 30-acre countrified setting, Greenwich Academy is a private K-12 school for girls with a total of 730 students. Part of a 10-year plan to expand and update the school, this new facility serves the 250 students of the upper school, grades 9-12, and replaces a demolished 1950s building. The new 42,000-square-foot … Continued
On a wooded, 15.5-acre site adjacent to a neighborhood of upscale single-family homes in Fairfield, Connecticut, the Burr Elementary School comfortably blends into the landscape, functioning as a “good neighbor” with its unintrusive scale and subdued, clean-lined presence. Burr Elementary, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is one of two new schools recently built … Continued
Ask any design firm if its approach to designing graphics for kids is any different than designing for adults, and the answer is a unanimous “no.” As with any environmental graphic design program, the designers have to identify the problem and then design a creative solution that guides, informs, engages, and delights – and stays … Continued
The National Museum of American History — home to a broad mix of historical and pop-culture treasures from the Star-Spangled Banner to Julia Child’s kitchen — reopens tomorrow after an $85 million overhaul. Smithsonian officials wanted the retooled facility to be encyclopedic but also to connect with every visitor. Glass, director since 2002, called it … Continued
In March 1999, many Shanghai people came to Lujiazui to see the newly completed Jin Mao Tower. In the same year, the Jin Mao Tower – 420.5 meters tall – was officially listed one of the world’s ten tallest buildings. It was the tallest building in China, the second tallest in Asia and the third … Continued