ABSTRACT
Since its foundation in 1936, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has pushed the idea that architectural production thrives on collaboration. The firm has incubated historic alliances among practitioners of varied expertise, leveraging the creative energy of these interactions to keep the firm at the forefront of the industry. SOM continued its search for new ways to promote innovation in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the firm foregrounded the research initiatives of structural engineer Fazlur Khan. For the Guiyang Cultural Plaza Tower in Guiyang, the team of SOM architects and engineers saw an opportunity to advance the study of supertall construction that had thrived under the direction of Fazlur Khan. SOM’s integrated approach to design has pushed studio members to incorporate new considerations during the conceptual phase of the design process. SOM has consistently returned to its foundational principles to guide the evolution of its practice.
