SOM (architectural firm)

Shaklee Terraces, San Francisco, designed in 1982 with a flush aluminum and glass facade and rounded corners.

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) is a Chicago-based architectural 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 United States. 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.

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 Building (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, i.e. 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, and David Childs. The company claims to have completed 10,000 projects and maintains offices in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

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competition for master-planning, SOM was awarded the architectural design contract for the Freedom Tower, after having withdrawn their entry in the original design competition.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

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
• Tour Telus (CIL House), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1962
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 1963
• University of Illinois at Chicago's "Circle Campus", United States, 1965
• Louis Jefferson Long Library at Wells College, Aurora, New York, United States, 1968
• Bank of America Center, San Francisco, California, United States, 1969
• John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 1969
• 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 Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 1973
• First Wisconsin Plaza, Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 1974
• Enerplex, North Building, Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 1982
• Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 1982
• BellSouth Center, Atlanta, Georgia, 1982
• Georgia-Pacific Tower, Atlanta, Georgia, 1982
• US Bancorp Tower, Portland, Oregon, United States, 1983
• Wachovia Financial Center, Miami, Florida, United States, 1984
• 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
• 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

Buildings under construction

• Broadgate Tower, London, England
• Burj Dubai, Dubai City, Dubai
• Freedom Tower, New York City, New York, United States
• Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China
• Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Changi, Singapore in partnership with CPG Corporation
• Tokyo Midtown Project, Tokyo, Japan
• Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China
• Chemsunny Plaza, Beijing, China

External links

• SOM corporate site
• Review of the 1954 Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Branch Bank in NYC
• Some SOM projects reviews