With its 50-year plan for Texas Medical Center (TMC), SOM developed a cohesive growth strategy for one of the world’s largest medical campuses. Encompassing 675 acres, an area nearly equal to downtown Houston, TMC is the city’s largest employer, it houses 54 separate institutions, with a daytime population of up to 70,000 medical professionals, support … Continued
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
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
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
Defining luxury with nature Carmichael Residences addresses an increasing demand for high-rise living in Tardeo, a neighborhood known for its historic bungalows and lush gardens. SOM’s design creates a tranquil refuge that elegantly befits its surroundings with a western red cedar facade and plantings visible across its floors. Greenery cascades down the 21-story building’s overhangs, … Continued
A new Olympic model The Milano Cortina Olympic Village leverages a singular opportunity—the 2026 Winter Olympics—to create a sustainable, intergenerational, and green community in the heart of Milan’s dynamic Porta Romana district. The project, a major component of the Porta Romana Railway Yard Master Plan, offers a powerful new model for Olympic facilities to serve … Continued
BBVA Centro Tecnológico is a highly secure data center and office complex that provides critical information technology support for the bank’s operations worldwide. Located on high ground at the edge of Mexico City—an active earthquake region—the 31,025-square-meter complex is designed to the highest levels of safety and redundancy. Certified as a Tier IV facility by … Continued
A struggle to accommodate explosive growth has characterized Shanghai’s transformation into a post-industrial city. Whereas most new developments have sprung up along the linear corridors of major streets and lack a sense of scale and place, this master plan offers an alternative: a compact and walkable district that bridges the old and new. Situated between … Continued
The Roche Diagnostics Learning and Development Center demonstrates architecture’s role in defining corporate character. Designed for the Swiss-based drug company’s North American headquarters in Indianapolis, the building establishes a global brand standard, asserting a coherent visual identity for the future of the campus. The building’s high level of environmental performance reinforces Roche’s longstanding commitment to … Continued
Repositioning a modernist office complex for the future Defining an entire urban block, the Corso Italia complex comprises three distinct buildings that each relate to the scale and materials of the surrounding historic architecture. Originally designed in the 1960s by the studio Ponti Fornaroli Rosselli with Piero Portaluppi, it represents a unique collaboration among some … Continued