SOM

With nearly 80 years of experience in integrating architecture and engineering, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's (SOM) work remains groundbreaking, especially when it comes to designing supertalls. Besides addressing the question of "e;how high can you go"e;, as well as the issues of efficiency and economy, this fourth volume of the DETAIL engineering series presents the theoretical background of SOM's structural group. On the basis of a variety of projects with their general structural concept or their specific details, the book explains the process of finding corresponding solutions. These solutions illustrate the company's core values: simplicity, clarity, hierarchy, efficiency and continuous reseach. In addition, the projects - from James Turrel Skyspace to Burj Khalifa - are also placed in the context of SOM's work as a whole using anecdotes from a number of other well-known SOM projects as John Hancock or Sears Tower. This volume considers how to find new structural solutions, as well as how materials can be used innovatively to create "e;next generation"e; buildings.