Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Totally Explained

Everything about Skidmore Owings And Merrill totally explained

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) is a Chicago-based architectural and engineering firm that was formed in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest architectural firms in the world. Their primary expertise is in high-end commercial buildings, as it was SOM that led the way to the widespread use of the modern international-style or "glass box" skyscraper.

Design

Many of SOM's post-war designs have become icons of American modern architecture, including the Lever House (1952) in New York City; the Air Force Academy Chapel (1958) in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the John Hancock Center (1969) and Sears Tower (1973), both in Chicago.
Although SOM was one of the first major modern American architectural firms to promote a corporate face, for example not specifically crediting individual architects for their buildings, many famous architects and engineers have been associated with the various national offices. These include: Gordon Bunshaft, Natalie de Blois, Myron Goldsmith, Bruce Graham, Gertrude Kerbis, Fazlur Khan, Walter Netsch, Pietro Belluschi, Adrian Smith, Ferdinand Gottlieb and David Childs. SOM has completed 10,000 projects around the nation and in more than 50 countries around the world and maintains offices in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Freedom Tower

The firm has been recently criticized for its successful bid to design the Freedom Tower, replacing the destroyed World Trade Center in Manhattan. After Daniel Libeskind won the competition for master-planning, SOM was awarded the architectural design contract for the Freedom Tower, after having withdrawn their entry in the original design competition.

Planning work

In addition to architectural services, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill has also competed in the field of large scale planning programs. An example of one important commission was as the lead design firm for the Boston Transportation Planning Review, a metropolitan wide re-design of Boston's entire transit and roadway infrastructure in the 1970s. They have recently designed the Freedom Tower in New York City and the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Notable SOM buildings

Individual buildings and the town plan for Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States, 1942
Lever House, New York City, New York, United States, 1952
Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Bank Branch Building 1954
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, 1958
One Chase Manhattan Plaza, Financial District, Manhattan, New York, United States, 1961.
Tour Telus (CIL House), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1962
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 1963
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Kohala Coast, Hawaii, United States, 1965
University of Illinois at Chicago's "Circle Campus", United States, 1965
Autzen Stadium, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 1967
Louis Jefferson Long Library at Wells College, Aurora, New York, United States, 1968
555 California Street, San Francisco, California, United States, 1969
Grand Rapids City Hall & Kent County Administrative Building - Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1969
City Center Square, Kansas City, Missouri, United States 1977
John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 1969
Regenstein Library, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 1970
One HSBC Center, Buffalo, New York, United States, 1971
Weyerhaeuser Headquarters, Tacoma, Washington, United States, 1971
Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1972
Sears Tower, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 1973
Carlton Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1973
US Bank Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 1973
First Wisconsin Plaza, Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 1974
200 W Madison, Chicago, Illinois (former Hyatt Corporation headquarters)
Enerplex, North Building, Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 1982
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 1982
BellSouth Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 1982
Georgia-Pacific Tower, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 1982
US Bancorp Tower, Portland, Oregon, United States, 1983
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1984
Wachovia Financial Center, Miami, Florida, United States, 1984
63 Building, Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea, 1985
Wachovia Tower, Birmingham, Alabama, 1986
JPMorgan Chase Tower (Dallas), Dallas, Texas, United States, 1987
One Worldwide Plaza, New York, New York, United States, 1989
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Manila, Philippines, 1997
Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China 1998
Embassy of the United States in Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 1999
PBCom Tower, Makati, Philippines, 2000
7 South Dearborn (unbuilt), Chicago, Illinois, United States, 2000
San Francisco International Airport International Terminal, San Francisco, California, United States, 2001
Time Warner Center, New York City, New York, United States, 2003
Random House Tower, New York City, New York, United States, 2003
Ben Gurion Airport Terminal 3, Tel Aviv, Israel, Israel, completed 2004 (in association with Moshe Safdie)
Rondo One, Warsaw, Poland
7 World Trade Center (second), New York, New York, United States, 2006
Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo, Japan, 2007
Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Changi, Singapore in partnership with CPG Corporation

Buildings under construction

Al Hamra Tower, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Broadgate Tower, London, England

Burj Dubai, Dubai City, Dubai

Chemsunny Plaza, Beijing, China

Freedom Tower, New York City, New York, United States

Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China

Pan Peninsula Towers, London, England

Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China

Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, Illinois, United StatesFurther Information

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