Courtesy of SOM Architects + PWP Landscape Architecture

 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and PWP Landscape Architecture shared with us their proposal for the 8 Washington development in downtown San Francisco. The plans will continue the revitalization and support enjoyment of the historically under-utilized northeast waterfront by reconnecting the City with the Bay and providing housing and community amenities which include: dynamic pedestrian corridors linking Pacific Avenue and Jackson Street with The Embarcadero; a children’s play area featuring interactive sculptural gardens; an expanded health and aquatics center; cafés, restaurants and retail; and centralized underground public parking for the Ferry Building Waterfront Area. More images and project description after the break. read more »

The AIA Chicago chapter has awarded the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) the 2011 Firm of the Year Award for 75 years of global design excellence. The chapter recognized the outstanding achievements and excellence in the firm’s body of work and their contribution to the advancement of the architectural profession in areas of design, research, planning, technology and architectural practice. This is the highest AIA award a firm can receive.

The Firm Award Jury stated, “Skidmore Owings & Merrill is the jury’s unanimous choice for AIA Chicago’s 2011 Firm of the Year. It is evident in the submission that SOM has a distinct culture that is collaborative and team-oriented with a history of high aspirations for design excellence. For the professional community, SOM’s innovation continues to impact and inform tall building design around the world, while it is also evident that SOM is an involved and active citizen of Chicago, reaching outside of itself to positively impact the community and its organizations.”

A celebration will take place at the AIA Chicago annual meeting and awards presentation on Friday, December 9th, 2011 at ReBuilding Exchange in Chicago, Illinois.

Here are a few SOM projects featured on ArchDaily:

• John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• The Park Hotel
• Miami University Art Museum
• Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility
• McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, Kitt Peak National Observatory

SoM | © Eduard Hueber

The ribbon cutting ceremony for John Jay College of Criminal Justice, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), just took place early this month. Located in New York on 11th Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets, the College’s new 625,000-square-foot building provides all the functions of a traditional college campus within the confines of a single city block and doubles the size of John Jay’s existing facilities by adding classrooms, laboratories, auditoriums, faculty offices, and student lounges. More images and project description after the break.

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Manufacturers Trust Company by SOM © Landmarks Preservation Commission

The World Monuments Fund calls for international awareness to the 2012 list of endangered monuments. The watch encompasses 67 threatened cultural-heritage sites worldwide. These influential landmarks include the iconic Manufacturers Trust Company Building in New York City designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York.

Continue reading after the break. read more »

SOM©MIR renderings

Modern urban living, commerce and tourism are a part of the new multi-district redevelopment plans for Nanjing’s Yangtze Redevelopment. Selected by Beijing based MCC Real Estate Company, SOM has imagined a scheme that will create a new area of neighborhoods, shopping districts and corporate skyscrapers embodying a new identity for Nanjing and a mixed-use cityscape for its people.

SOM Director Douglas Voigt said, “The core concept of the SOM plan for Nanjing Xiaguan is making connections. Connecting the city to the river. Connecting the best of urban living to nature. Connecting under–utilized land to value creation that will increase growth, tourism and prosperity. Connecting Nanjing’s rich heritage with China’s rising economy.”

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SOM, © Torkel Korling

Many engineers, scientists, and other workers were recruited to East Tennessee during WWII for the development of the Manhattan Project. Because of this growth, SOM was contracted to design a master plan and home designs for the secret site planned by the U.S. Federal Government.  The Oak Ridge New Town Master Plan would become a foundation for urban design projects not just for SOM, but for American standards as well. More on the Oak Ridge New Town Master Plan after the break.

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This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Shanghai. Shanghai is noted for having more Art Deco buildings than any other city, including László Hudec’s Park Hotel, which is not on our list but will be added in a future guide. Like many cities in China, Shanghai’s rapid growth has meant a boon in contemporary architecture styles. We put together a list of 12 modern/contemporary buildings that we feel provides a good starting point. It is far from complete. There are dozens of other great buildings that are not our list, and we are looking to add to the list in the near future. Please add your favorites in the comment section below so we can add them on the second go around. Again thank you to all our readers who sent in their suggestions and photographs. The city guides would not be possible without your help.

To check out other cities visit our world map or our Architecture City Guide page.
The Architecture City Guide: Shanghai list and corresponding map after the break.

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Courtesy of Flickr CC License / Sarmu

This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Beijing. Beijing has a range of architectural styles, but the three most prevalent are the traditional imperial style (the Forbidden City), the “Sino-Sov” style (boxy structures built between the 1950s and 70s), and lastly the explosion of a modern corporate style that is punctuated with Starchitect buildings like OMA’s CCTV TV Station HQ. We put together a list of 12 modern/contemporary buildings that we feel provides a good starting point. It is far from complete. There are dozens of other great buildings that are not our list, and we are looking to add to the list in the near future. Please add your favorites in the comment section below so we can add them on the second go around. Again thank you to all our readers who sent in their suggestions and photographs. The city guides would not be possible without your help.

To check out other cities visit our world map or our Architecture City Guide page.
The Architecture City Guide: Beijing list and corresponding map after the break.

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© SOM

The SOM Foundation has announced the 2011 SOM Prize Winner and Runner-up.   Brandon Clifford, a recent graduate of the Master of Architecture’s program at Princeton University, was selected as the winner of the prestigious SOM Prize, a $50,000 Research and Travel Fellowship.  Clifford will visit multiple countries on four continents in carrying out his research topic, “Volume: Researching Past Methods of Stereotomy.”

SOM, one of the first major modern American architectural firms to promote a corporate face, has continued to be a ‘massive and dynamically creative commercial force’ designing the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai, their commission for a new green district, Green Tech City, in Hanoi, Vietnam, and SOM was selected to design New York City’s (and the State’s) first Net Zero Energy school building, PS 62 located in Staten Island.

In 2009 SOM was recognized for just that when they were included in Fast Company’s annual list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” ranked #32 (the only AEC company on the ranking), amongst companies such as Google and Apple.  And they were also rated (by Fast Company) as number one on its list of the 10 most innovative architecture firms.

In this 30th year of Foundation Awards, the Fellowships continue to offer recent graduates the rare opportunity to travel in connection with carrying out in-depth research, collaborate with other professionals and pursue independent study outside the realm of established patterns. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $1,000,000 to architecture, design and engineering students who have gone on to distinguish themselves in professional and academic careers.  It has been said that,”the SOM Prize is one of the primary tools that our profession has to bridge the gap between the academy and the real world.”

The official press release from SOM following the break.

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Green Tech City, Courtesy SOM.

As billings continue to decline in the US, the nation of Vietnam is quickly emerging as a hot spot for Western architecture firms seeking new work. About two dozen North American and European firms now have projects in the Southeast Asian country, including Foster + Partners, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Some are even reportedly opening permanent offices there.

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Published in 2008 this book details the SOM’s design of the International Terminal at the San Francisco International Airport. The mid-rise terminal is a case study in light and lightness. It has plans, sections, elevations, models, text by Anne-Catrin Schultz, and photographs by Timothy Joseph Hursley.

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This week our Architecture City Guide is headed Kansas City. With more boulevards than any other city except Paris, Kansas City is commonly called “Paris of the Plains.” Although its architecture might not rival Paris, there is plenty of great architecture, and as always it was difficult to keep our list to only 12 designs. Kansas City is also the headquarters of this year’s AIA National Firm Award, BNIM. Take a look at the list and add to it in the comment section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Kansas City list and corresponding map after the break.

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This week our Architecture City Guide is headed to Columbus; Indiana that is. We have already made the trip to Columbus, Ohio. This lesser known Columbus only has a population of 44,000 people, but for what it lacks in size it makes up in architecture. Columbus, perhaps, has more notable modern architecture buildings per capita than any city in the United States. In fact, it was much harder narrowing the list down to 12 projects than finding enough for the city guide. With the buildings not on the list, it will be impossible to please everyone. Notably our list doesn’t even include Romaldo Giurgola’s Columbus East High School, Cesar Pelli’s Commons Centre and Mall, and SOM’s Republic Newspaper Building. Take a look at the 12 on our list and add your favorites in the comment section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Columbus list and corresponding map after the break.

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Last week we told you about ArchiCAD 15, Graphisoft’s latest version of its premium design software for architects. Although you can see many videos showing the new features of the software, it’s great to see some projects modeled with ArchiCAD 15. Specially if we can see some of the projects we have featured in our AD Classics section, like SOM’s USAFA Cadet Chapel or William Van Alen’s Chrysler Building. Check the other two videos after the break. read more »

© SOM

The Beijing Central Business District (CBD) plan by SOM can now add 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design to its list.  The ongoing 4,200,000 sqm project is the winning design from the international design competition expanding the Beijing CBD

The plan calls for the establishment of three new districts anchored by signature parks and green boulevards. New modes of public transportation are proposed, including express commuter rail service between the Beijing Capital International Airport, the CBD, and high speed rail service at Beijing South Station. A new streetcar system is proposed to conveniently link all areas of the CBD, and every street would be bicycle friendly. To establish a pedestrian-friendly scale for development, the plan calls for a network of small, walkable blocks.

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SOM | Erich Locker

Known for their innovation and economy in design, SOMs Chase Manhattan Plaza in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan displays SOMs architectural language on efficiency and its relationship with the public realm.  Completed in 1961, the 60 story skyscraper by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM is a coming of age story for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill presence as an [inter]national leader of corporate architectural design that evokes efficiency and functionality.

More on the Chase Manhattan Plaza after the break. read more »

SOM, © Hedrich Blessing

As the first military project of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center takes the form of a rectangle and stretches along a long narrow site. The diverse program includes a reading and writing room, reception room, lounge, terrace and offices. Hostess House is the only surviving World War II-era building designed by Gordon Bunshaft.

More on the Hostess House, or Great Lakes Naval Training Center after the break. read more »

SOM | © Abby Sadin

Known for their academic and institutional works that begin to integrate the academia with the outside world, SOM designed the Miami University Art Museum in Oxford, Ohio as an academic facility, as well as an art venue for the public to experience.  Situated on Miami University’s campus, the art museum enhances the universities cultural influence on the surrounding area by making Miami University the artistic and cultural center of Oxford.

Completed in 1979, Walter Netsch and his team at SOM designed the museum as a responsive sculpture that appears to emerge from the elevated terrain and the surrounding wooded landscape.

More on the Miami University Art Museum after the break. read more »

Landmarks Preservation Commission

Last week, as the NY Times reported, the interior of 510 Fifth Avenue received landmark protection by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The building, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill back in the 1950s, served as a branch of the former Manufacturers Trust Bank (later the Chase Bank Building) and is situated on a dense Manhattan block near the New York Public Library, Cook+Fox’s recent One Bryant Park, and the park itself.

More about the landmarked interior after the break. read more »

Courtesy of SOM

The commission for a Green Tech City in Hanoi, Vietnam was recently awarded to Skidmore Owings & Merrill.  SOM’s preliminary master plan focuses on reducing demand for non-renewable resources while integrating local traditions and utilizing the existing green urban character of Hanoi.  At the heart of this new green district is a riverfront park.  A series of landscaped green spaces, formed from existing agricultural water channels, would connect into this linear riverfront park creating a well connected network of public parks.

More information on this news after the break.

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