Editing SOM (architectural firm) (section)

== Disciplines ==
=== Urban design and planning ===
Since the firm's founding, SOM has led large-scale urban design and planning projects. Many of these projects have had a lasting role in the development of cities and urban areas in America and the world, including London, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Denver, and Portland, Oregon. SOM's City Design practice has made influential contributions to urban design approaches such as [[transit-oriented development]], overbuild strategies and [[sustainable urbanism]].
In 1942, SOM was hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a highly confidential project: the planning of [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]]. By 1945, the town was home to 75,000 people. The work at Oak Ridge prepared SOM to take on the large-scale architectural and planning projects that would define the postwar era.

For more than 20 years, SOM was involved in the development of a master plan for the [[National Mall]] in Washington, D.C. In 1962, President [[John F. Kennedy]] appointed Nathaniel Owings as chair of the Pennsylvania Avenue redesign council, and the resulting 1966 Washington Mall Master Plan laid the framework for a dynamic, inviting, and pedestrian-friendly place. A second master plan developed in 1973, envisioned the construction of major cultural facilities, including the [[National Air and Space Museum]], the [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]], and the [[National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden]].
In Baltimore in the 1960s, SOM played a pivotal role in preventing the destruction of the city's historic districts and [[Inner Harbor]] to make way for the planned construction of an elevated highway. As the chair of a team to develop an alternate plan, Nathaniel Owings convinced the Federal Highway Administration to sign off on a plan to reroute the highway. It was eventually built around the harbor and the historic [[Federal Hill, Baltimore|Federal Hill]] district, saving these irreplaceable neighborhoods.

In the 1970s, SOM collaborated with landscape architect [[Lawrence Halprin]] to plan and design the [[Portland Transit Mall]]. The goals were to revitalize the Oregon city's downtown area, to encourage the use of mass transit, and create walkable streets. The Transit Mall helped to change the perception of downtown Portland. As one of the first projects of its kind in the United States, it helped to usher in an era of streetscape design that prioritizes people. Another important commission in the 1970s 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.

Beginning in the 1980s, SOM planned the design and construction of [[Canary Wharf]] in London. Intended to accommodate a flourishing financial sector and revitalize London's former Docklands, the plan included more than 20 building sites and a host of public spaces and amenities. The plan also provided for a robust transportation network including a light rail station that connects to the [[London Underground]]. The massive scale of the project led to the opening of SOM's London office in 1986. The firm's work at Canary Wharf continued into the new millennium, with the completion of Five Canada Square in 2002.
In central London, the opportunity to build above rail lines near Liverpool Street Station spurred the construction of [[Broadgate]], a new business district. SOM devised the master plan, and over three decades designed several of the site's 14 buildings. In order to build high-rise structures atop one of the city's busiest stations and its railyard, SOM's structural engineering team devised a deck over the tracks to allow for various building configurations on top. Exchange House, completed in 1990, is a building that acts as a bridge spanning the tracks. In 2008, Broadgate Tower, the district's tallest building, was completed. SOM also designed public space enhancements for the area.

SOM designed the master plan for Chicago's [[Millennium Park]], which opened in 2004 and has become one of the city's most visited attractions. Constructed above bus lanes, parking garages, and a rail yard, Millennium Park can be considered the world's largest roof garden. Below the great lawn, two new levels of parking were built, bus stops were added, and rail stations were renovated and expanded, including [[Millennium Station]]. The project revitalized a formerly blighted downtown site and marked the completion of Chicago planner [[Daniel Burnham]]'s 100-year vision for the area.

In Denver, SOM was commissioned to expand and transform the city's historic [[Denver Union Station|Union Station]] into a major regional hub. 20 acres of former rail yards have been converted into a transit-oriented urban district that orchestrates light rail, pedestrian, bicycle, and bus routes, as well as commuter and intercity rail. Completed in 2014, the project has spurred more than $3.5 billion worth of private investment in the surrounding district.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rtd-denver.com/projects/union-station-tod-project. |title=Union Station TOD Project &#124; RTD – Denver|website=www.rtd-denver.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220013522/https://www.rtd-denver.com/projects/union-station-tod-project |archive-date=December 20, 2019}}</ref>

===Structural engineering===
The earliest SOM engineer was [[John O. Merrill]].<ref>FundingUniverse: [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Skidmore-Owings-amp;-Merrill-LLP-Company-History.html SOM company history.]</ref> [[Fazlur Khan]], another engineer at SOM, is best known for his design and construction of the [[Willis Tower]] (formerly the Sears Tower), and [[John Hancock Center]] and for his [[Skyscraper design and construction|designs of structural systems]] that remain fundamental to all [[high-rise]] [[skyscraper]]s.<ref>Ali Mir (2001), ''Art of the Skyscraper: the Genius of Fazlur Khan'', Rizzoli International Publications, {{ISBN|0-8478-2370-9}}</ref> Indeed, Khan is responsible for developing the algorithms that made the Hancock building and many subsequent skyscrapers possible. Another notable SOM engineer is [[William F. Baker (engineer)|Bill Baker]], who is best known as the engineer of [[Burj Khalifa]] (Dubai, 2010), the world's tallest man-made structure. To support the tower's record heights and slim footprint, he developed the "[[buttressed core]]"<ref>[https://www.wired.com/culture/design/magazine/15-12/mf_baker Engineer Bill Baker Is the King of Superstable 150-Story Structures], Wired.com</ref> structural system, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three buttresses that form a Y shape.

===Interior design===
[[Davis Allen]], a pioneer in corporate [[interior design]], had a forty-year tenure at SOM.<ref>Pace, Eric. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05EFDF1431F930A15756C0A96F958260 "Davis Allen, 82, a Designer Of Modern Business Interiors,"] ''New York Times.'' May 23, 1999.</ref> The designer of the iconic Andover chair, Allen was an institution in "the profession he helped to establish—the total design of the interior corporate environment with furniture, art, and functional and decorative objects integrated into a comprehensively planned space."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-05-24-9905240089-story.html|title=Interior Architect Davis Allen, 82|first=New York Times News|last=Service|website=chicagotribune.com|date=May 24, 1999}}</ref>