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SOM (architectural firm)

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

A colorful fiber art sculpture installed in downtown Columbus, Ohio, adding beauty to the city streets.

SOM, short for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a famous American firm that works on buildings, cities, and engineering. It started in 1936 in Chicago by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, John O. Merrill joined to help with engineering. The firm quickly grew, opening an office in New York City in 1937 and later adding offices in many cities around the world, like San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Dubai.

SOM is well-known for helping shape modern architecture in America, especially for designing tall buildings. Some of their most famous works include the John Hancock Center, the Willis Tower, One World Trade Center, and the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the tallest building on Earth. They also work on many other important projects, such as the new home for the Walt Disney Company, train stations in New York, and even ideas for building a village on the Moon with scientists from the European Space Agency and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The firm does many kinds of work, from designing buildings to planning whole neighborhoods. They help make sure buildings are safe, use energy wisely, and look great. Their projects range from tiny school buildings to huge city plans, showing how important design is in shaping the world around us.

History

20th century

The firm’s first important building was Lever House, finished in 1952. It was the first modern office building in New York City, made of glass and steel.

In the 1970s, SOM helped design tall buildings in Chicago, such as the John Hancock Center and the Willis Tower. The Willis Tower was the tallest building in the world when it was finished in 1973. These buildings used a special framing system invented by engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, which allowed buildings to be built higher than ever before.

SOM was also an early leader in using computers for design. They created tools that helped architects and engineers work more efficiently.

SOM’s buildings sometimes include pieces of art. Artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and Isamu Noguchi have had their work featured in SOM projects.

Current, Columbus, OH, 2023 By Janet Echelman

In 1953, SOM finished the Manufacturers Trust Company Building in New York City, the first bank building in the United States built in the modern style. In 1960, they finished the Pepsi-Cola World Headquarters. In 1961, they finished One Chase Manhattan Plaza, now called 28 Liberty Street, which helped bring businesses back to Lower Manhattan.

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, SOM designed the campus for the United States Air Force Academy. The campus, built between 1958 and 1968, was the first U.S. military academy designed in a modern style. The center piece of the campus is the Cadet Chapel.

21st century

In 2007, SOM finished a large office building for the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the first federal office building to earn special recognition for being built in a way that helps the environment.

In 2015, SOM finished the first school building in New York City that uses no more energy than it creates, the Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground, Staten Island. The school has been honored for its design that helps the environment.

People

SOM is run as a partnership. Some of the current partners and consulting partners are Mustafa Abadan, William Baker, Thomas Behr, Keith Boswell, Carrie Byles, Larry Chien, Leo Chow, Brant Coletta, Chris Cooper, Ryan Culligan, Paul Danna, Michael Duncan, Scott Duncan, Laura Ettelman, Xuan Fu, T.J. Gottesdiener, Gary Haney, Craig Hartman, Kent Jackson, Colin Koop, Peter Lefkovits, Kenneth Lewis, Eric Long, Vram Malek, Olin McKenzie, Carrie Moore, Emily Mottolese, Julia Murphy, Mark Sarkisian, Adam Semel, Jonathan Stein, and Douglas Voigt.

Some well-known architects who worked with SOM include T. J. Gottesdiener, Edward Charles Bassett, Natalie de Blois, Gordon Bunshaft, David Childs, Robert Diamant, Philip Enquist, Myron Goldsmith, Bruce Graham, Gary Haney, Craig W. Hartman, Gertrude Kerbis, Fazlur Rahman Khan, Lucien Lagrange, Walter Netsch, Larry Oltmanns, Eszter Pécsi, Brigitte Peterhans, Norma Merrick Sklarek, Adrian Smith, and Marilyn Jordan Taylor.

In the past, SOM had few women in leadership roles. Architect Sally Harkness was not hired when she interviewed there during World War II because the firm did not believe in hiring women. Norma Merrick Sklarek joined SOM in 1955 after being turned down by 19 other firms. She worked there for five years before starting her own firm. In 2020, three women, Carrie Byles, Xuan Fu, and Laura Ettelman, were named to the firm's executive committee.

Awards

SOM has won over 2000 awards for its quality and creativity. In 1996 and 1962, the firm received the Architecture Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects, an honor given only to the best design work, and SOM is the only firm to have won it twice. In 2009, SOM earned four R+D Awards from Architect Magazine. The firm also worked with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on a project that won another award.

Disciplines

Since it started, SOM has worked on big city designs and plans. They have helped shape cities like London, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Denver, and Portland, Oregon. Their work has changed how cities are built, focusing on ways to make cities better for people, like designing areas around train stops and creating spaces where people can walk.

SOM has also been important in planning famous places. In the 1940s, they helped plan a special town for the U.S. Army. In the 1960s, they helped redesign parts of Washington, D.C., saving historic areas in Baltimore, and planning a busy area in Portland. In London, they helped create a new business area called Canary Wharf and designed a large park in Chicago called Millennium Park. In Denver, they turned an old train station into a busy new center for trains and buses.

Notable projects

Further information: List of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings

Lever House, New York City (1952)
Manhattan House in New York City
Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon (1960)
John Hancock Center, Chicago (1969)

Images

A student riding a bicycle near Uris Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
A beautiful view of the Willis Tower in Chicago from Lake Michigan.
A scenic view of Rowes Wharf in Boston, showing beautiful architecture and street lights along the waterfront.

Related articles

John Hancock Center
Willis Tower
Dubai
One World Trade Center
Burj Khalifa
Engineering

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