Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), Skyscraper Specialist

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. Founded in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; they merged with John O. Merrill in 1939. The firm opened its first branch in New York in 1937. Today, with a portfolio spanning thousands of projects across 50 countries, SOM is one of the world's largest architecture firms. The firm's primary expertise is high-end commercial buildings, pioneering the widespread use of "glass box" skyscrapers.

One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York. Construction for the new building began on 27 April 2006. Completed in 2014, One World Trade Center has made its mark on the New York skyline. This tower echoes the slender, tapering triangular forms of major New York City landmarks such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. As the tower rises from a cubic base, the edges are chamfered again, creating a faceted form composed of eight isosceles triangles running lengthwise. In the tower's center, the structure forms a perfect octagon in plan, resulting in a 150-foot by 150-foot square glass balustrade whose plan is rotated 45 degrees from the base. The overall effect is a crystalline form capturing the ever-evolving image of refracted light. As the sun moves across the sky or one moves around the tower, the surfaces appear like a kaleidoscope. The tower's appearance changes throughout the day as light and weather conditions shift.    

7 World Trade Center

This 52-story office tower, completed in 2006, sets a standard for the World Trade Center master plan. Creating a sense of lightness and generating strong volume at street level were central to the design. The tower rises like a gleaming glass fragment, with a curtain wall that reflects the ever-changing sky. The lower portion of the building is clad in a perforated steel screen created in collaboration with designer James Carpenter. Behind the metal shell lie blue and white LED panels whose density gradually changes throughout the day. In the expansive lobby, a captivating light installation by artist Jenny Holzer draws all attention. As the first commercial office building in New York City to achieve LEED® certification, 7 World Trade Center incorporates a range of sustainable features through the use of recycled structural steel, insulation and interior materials. For example, throughout the tower's lifetime, the use of collected rainwater for building cooling means it uses less energy than conventionally constructed skyscrapers.

Time Warner Center

One of New York's most striking mixed-use complexes, the Time Warner Center exemplifies the concept of "a city within a building." This massive center, with volumes at podium level joined to twin glass-clad towers, houses an eclectic mix including CNN television, studios, performance venues for Jazz @ Lincoln Center, offices, luxury hotel rooms and residences. Parking and direct subway access are also located within the Time Warner Center. The complex's distinctive form responds directly to its urban context. The gap between the rising towers helps visually restore the 59th Street corridor. Time Warner is a twin-tower building developed by AREA Property Partners (formerly Apollo Real Estate Advisors) and related companies in New York. Designed by David Childs and Mustafa Kemal Abadan from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it consists of twin towers 229 meters in height; these towers are bridged by a multi-level atrium podium containing upscale retail stores.

Willis Tower

The 110-story Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which held the distinction of being the world's tallest building for many years, exemplifies SOM's approach that a building's structure should also reflect its external profile. The tower's structure contains nine square tubes, each of which is self-supporting and rigidly independent of internal bracing. The tubes are bundled together as a closed square below the first 50 stories. Above the first 50 stories, the tubes terminate at different heights, creating a multi-tiered form. The structural steel framework sections were pre-assembled and then bolted in place on site. The light-weight exterior envelope consists of black aluminum and bronze-painted anti-glare glass. Since its completion in 1973, the approximately 418,000-square-meter tower served as the headquarters of Sears Roebuck & Co. until 1995, when the company moved its headquarters to another location. The building's design, flexible floor plan and iconic style have made this structure the premier address for many firms. Exceptionally well-maintained, this unique structure continues to serve as a highly important activity center to this day.

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