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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The firm opened its second office, in New York City, in 1937 and has since expanded, with additional offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seattle, and Dubai. The firm's notable current work includes the new headquarters for The Walt Disney Company, the global headquarters for Citigroup, Moynihan Train Hall and the expanded Penn Station complex, and the restoration and renovation of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City; airport projects at O'Hare International Airport, Kansas City International Airport, and Kempegowda International Airport; urban master plans for the Charenton-Bercy district in Paris, New Covent Garden in London, Treasure Island in San Francisco, the East Riverfront in Detroit; P.S. 62, the first net-zero-energy school in New York City; and the design of the Moon Village, a concept for the first permanent lunar settlement, developed with the European Space Agency and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Notable for its role as a pioneer of modernist architecture in America and for its groundbreaking work in skyscraper design and construction, SOM has designed some of the world's most significant architectural and urban projects including several of the tallest buildings in the world: John Hancock Center (1969, second tallest in the world when built), Willis Tower (1973, tallest in the world for over twenty years), One World Trade Center (2014, currently the seventh tallest in the world), and Burj Khalifa (2010, currently the world's tallest building).SOM's multidisciplinary practice works across a range of scales and project types, providing services in architecture, building services/MEP engineering, digital design, graphics, interior design, structural engineering, civil engineering, sustainable design and urban design & planning. History and influence Early works The firm's first influential project was Lever House, completed in 1952 to become the first International Style office building in New York City. Constructed of glass and steel at a time when Park Avenue was lined with masonry buildings, Lever House introduced a modernist aesthetic that embodied the spirit of the times and influenced an entire generation of high-rise construction. As architectural historian Reyner Banham wrote in 1962, "It gave architectural expression to an age just as the age was being born ... Lever House was an uncontrollable success, imitated and sometimes understood all over the Americanized world, and one of the sights of New York". In 1982, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Lever House an official landmark.SOM's work in New York City included the Manufacturers Trust Company Building, completed in 1954 as the first International Style bank building in the United States, and the Pepsi-Cola World Headquarters, completed in 1960. Architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock called the Pepsi building "the ultimate in refinement of proportion and elegance of materials," while New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable placed it "at the top of the list, with Seagram and Lever House, of the city's few modern landmarks." The following year saw the completion of One Chase Manhattan Plaza (later 28 Liberty Street), the first International Style building to rise in New York City's Financial District. The project is noted for helping to turn the tide of a corporate exodus to Midtown Manhattan and the suburbs and reasserted Lower Manhattan as a viable business district after years of decline. SOM's design for 28 Liberty Street also transformed the crowded streetscape of the Financial District by creating a plaza surrounding the tower, a novel concept that would be adapted in many future projects.Another example of SOM's modernist works is found in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where SOM planned a campus for the U.S. Air Force Academy. Built between 1958 and 1968, the campus broke from the traditions of West Point and Annapolis to become the first U.S. military academy designed in the modern style. The centerpiece of the campus is the Cadet Chapel, designed by architect Walter Netsch. The American Institute of Architects awarded the building with its prestigious Twenty-five Year Award, conferred onto "a building that has set a precedent for the last 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architectural design and significance" . Sustainable design SOM has a long history in sustainable architecture and design. In 1969, SOM founder Nathaniel Owings wrote, "Civilizations leave marks on the Earth by which they are known and judged. In large measure, the nature of their immortality is gauged by how well their builders made peace with the environment." (source: Nathaniel Owings, "The American Aesthetic," Harper & Row, 1969) This ethos has shaped the firm's journey into sustainable practices. An early example is a headquarters it designed for Weyerhaeuser Company, completed in 1971, which has been called the "original green building" not only for its integration into the surrounding landscape, but also for its use of efficient building systems. Another milestone in large-scale sustainable architecture was the completion of the U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters in 2007, the first federal office building to receive LEED certification. Like Weyerhaeuser, the design of the campus works in concert with its natural surroundings and incorporates a range of design strategies to reduce its environmental impact. In 2015, SOM completed the first net-zero-energy school building in New York City and one of the first worldwide. The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground, Staten Island, has been awarded for its sustainability performance by organizations including the American Institute of Architects, the Municipal Art Society, and Urban Land Institute. SOM has been recognized for its research and experimentation with new energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies, such as a timber tower and a modified concrete slab design. High-rise innovation In the 1970s, SOM pioneered a new era of skyscraper design with its work in Chicago, including the John Hancock Center (completed 1970) and Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which became the world's tallest structure upon its completion in 1973 and remained so for more than 20 years. Both towers are the result of collaboration between architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, who is often considered to be the greatest structural engineer of the 20th century. Khan invented a tubular framing system that made it possible to build higher than ever before. This system has been adapted and is still used today for some of the world's most recent tallest buildi.... Discover the Merrill J Davies popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Merrill J Davies books.