Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

SOM has made the 2024 list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture! The annual list chronicles innovations across the world that are transforming business and society, covering a range of sectors from space and robotics to sustainability and agriculture. This year, Fast Company selected SOM as the fifth most innovative architecture firm, citing our Whole Life Carbon Accounting service as part of a new frontier in “cutting down the environmental impact of a building throughout its entire life span, from the production of its building materials to its construction to its many years of operation and even to its eventual demolition.” Reporting for Fast Company, Nate Berg writes, “The global architecture firm SOM has led the way in incorporating this long-term thinking into its design work. In June, it launched Whole Life Carbon Accounting, a service that evaluates, measures, and seeks to reduce carbon emissions through the full life cycle of a building.” Learn more about our Whole Life Carbon Accounting service and how it can meet a project's decarbonization goals below. SOM Spotlight → bit.ly/fastcosom Fast Company Architecture List → bit.ly/fastcoarch #FCMostInnovative

We’re counting down the days until the opening celebration of the new Massachusetts Institute of Technology Schwarzman College of Computing building, a home for research and education in computer science and artificial intelligence. As the architect and engineer, we designed a 185,000-square-foot structure that serves as a center of gravity for students and introduces a dynamic and flexible hub for teaching, learning, and research—all at the heart of MIT’s northern campus. MORE → bit.ly/3xEB1f5

Last week, we invited six manufacturers to our New York studio for a BioBased Materials Expo—a showcase that brought our designers together with new products endeavoring to set new standards in decarbonization. Building off our research into carbon-sequestering structures, a project we call Urban Sequoia, this expo explored how we can push the boundaries of our industry and play a significant role in reducing the environmental impact of the built environment. With samples from Cast Carbon, InventWood, Hempitecture, Andreu World, Kenoteq, and Varicon Aqua, we learned about emerging products ranging from biochar-based wall materials to densified wood with the strength of steel. MORE → bit.ly/38Mx3F1 📷: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM #Biomaterials #Decarbonization #UrbanSequoia #EarthDay

Monday is Earth Day—an annual celebration that raises awareness of protecting natural resources for future generations. But we believe in supporting this cause every day. For example, our Urban Sequoia research examines how buildings can function like trees—capturing carbon, purifying the air, and regenerating the environment. This systems approach sets the stage for a new carbon-removal economy and a resilient future for cities. Forbes recently caught up with Sustainability Director Mina Hasman about how much impact can be achieved when these technologies and systems are integrated into buildings worldwide. “Throughout our more than 85-year history, SOM has been ahead of the curve in the science of building,” Hasman told Forbes. “Our goal is to push all this new technology forward and help change the world of architecture again.” MORE → bit.ly/urbseqforb 

Earth Day is right around the corner, and just in time, Metropolis Magazine rounds up pioneering perspectives and projects that prove the possibilities of net zero design. As the editors write, “Luckily, projects like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Urban Sequoia, which envisions forests of carbon absorbers in cities and was a winner in METROPOLIS’ inaugural Responsible Disruptors competition, help us keep those carbon emissions in mind.” Read the full story below. MORE → bit.ly/3U5yBOp

Extending our long legacy of work in Texas, we are pleased to share that we have established a local team in Austin. For more than 60 years, we have contributed to skylines and cultural spaces across the state, including the following pictured projects: Tenneco Building (now Kinder Morgan Building) in Houston, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum at the The University of Texas at Austin, and the Moody Performance Hall in Dallas. Building on the success of the recently completed Ralph S. O’Connor Engineering and Science Building at Rice University in Houston and master plan for Austin's 305 South Congress Avenue, we'll continue to expand our work in Texas with the upcoming mixed-use tower at 2500 Cedar Springs in Dallas with Lincoln Property Company, the engineering of artist Janet Echelman's Butterfly Rest Stop at Kaleidoscope Park this summer, and more to come! Stay tuned for updates as we continue to grow. 📸 Pictured:  1. 2500 Cedar Springs | Dallas  2. Ralph S. O’Connor Engineering and Science Building at Rice University | Houston | Dave Burk © SOM 3. Moody Performance Hall | Dallas | Nick Merrick, Hedrich Blessing 4. 305 South Congress Avenue | Austin 5. Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum | Austin, TX | Ezra Stoller, Esto 6. Tenneco Building (now Kinder Morgan Building) | Houston | Ezra Stoller, Esto

The High Line – Moynihan Connector won a Merit Award from AIA New York | Center for Architecture as part of the AIANY + ASLA Transportation + Infrastructure Design Excellence Awards, which celebrates exceptional transportation and infrastructure projects. It also recently won a Merit Award from The New York Chapter, American Society of Landscape Architects, which recognizes excellence in landscape architecture. Designed with Field Operations, the High Line – Moynihan Connector is composed of two bridges that work together to integrate nature into New York City’s Midtown infrastructure and urban fabric. It forms the final link in a chain of pedestrian pathways from Penn Station to Hudson Yards and the High Line to the West Village. The seamless, fully accessible Connector takes the form of an elevated, 600-foot linear park that creates an episodic urban journey from the contemporary spaces of Midtown West to the verdant gardens and historic structure of the High Line. MORE → bit.ly/highlineawards Friends of the High Line Empire State Development   Brookfield Properties 📷: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM

What does it take to sustain human life in space? We explored that and more as part of the “Life Beyond Earth” installation at the 2024 Xiamen International Design and Art Exhibition in China. The show brought together work from architecture firms, designers, and artists representing 15 countries and regions.   SOM’s installation, first presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021, emerged from a multidisciplinary initiative launched by the European Space Agency to study the potential for long-term human habitats on the Moon. The project inspired visitors to envision future societies in new environments and to confront the challenges for sustaining human life in the conditions of outer space. MORE → bit.ly/3U2savc

The architecture of the library has evolved significantly over the last century, and we have been fortunate to be part of that progression that is integral to our communities worldwide. In honor of #NationalLibraryWeek, we visit a selection of our projects—past, present, and future. 📸 Pictured: 1. Billie Jean King Main Library | Long Beach, CA | Benny Chan, Fotoworks 2. Taylor Street Apartments and Little Italy Branch Library | Chicago, IL | Tom Harris 3. Taylor Street Apartments and Little Italy Branch Library | Chicago, IL | Tom Harris 4. Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum | Austin, TX | Ezra Stoller, Esto 5. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University | New Haven, CT | Ezra Stoller, Esto 6. City of Appleton Public Library | Appleton, WI 7. Chinatown Branch of the Chicago Public Library | Chicago, IL | Jon Miller, Hedrich Blessing 8. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University | New Haven, CT | Ezra Stoller, Esto 9. The Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | Ezra Stoller, Esto 10. The Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning at Barnard College | New York, NY | Magda Biernat

At SOM, we believe that architecture has the power to cultivate the collaborative, healthy workplace culture that so many companies strive for today. Several years ago, The Trade Desk shared this vision when their team asked us to reimagine five floors of the Grace Building in New York City. It was an exciting opportunity to revisit a skyscraper we designed in the 1970s and a chance to merge The Trade Desk's casual California roots with Manhattan's urban intensity. Their vision for the space included a creative office with interconnected floors that prioritized the well-being of staff, offered flexibility throughout the day, and supported its collaborative culture. We met each of these goals in one stroke, with a three-story atrium at the heart of the new workplace. Anchored by a media wall rising from the lobby to the uppermost level, the atrium fosters connections—visually, physically, and virtually. Learn more about our design for The Trade Desk's New York offices below. MORE → bit.ly/somtrade 📷: Magda Biernat