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SOM - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
by Google 3D Warehouse

Louis Skidmore (1897-1962), Nathaniel Owings (1903-1984) and John Merrill (1896-1975), SOM, is a prestigious American architectural firm known for its design of skyscrapers done in the international style during the 20th Century, and as the largest architectural firm of the time. In 1933, Louis Skidmore collaborated with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Owings, on his first independent commission to design the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Three years after the success of the exposition, Skidmore and Owings architectural firm was opened in Chicago, Illinois. The new firm rapidly grew, so in 1937 they opened a second location in New York City, New York. Two years later, the New York office earned the commission for the 1939 New York World's Fair, and for the project they would hire on a new partner: engineer John Merrill. From the 1940’s to 1989 the firm would expand to 1,400 employees with over 9 partners in 8 locations worldwide including: Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The firm also began adding services for projects such as interior design, landscape design and various types of engineering. The exacerbating commercial real estate market turned the company upside down in the 1990’s, but a little more than 10 years later they earned two major projects with record setting heights: Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and the controversial Freedom Tower at ground zero in New York City.

Updated Feb 19, 2012