Talk:Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

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Contents 1 Burj Dubai Picture? 2 SOM? 3 Three Blind Mies 4 Quality assessment comments

[edit] Burj Dubai Picture?

Should the computer-generated picture of the Burj Dubai be added to this article? It's still under construction, but a significant enough achievement to warrant inclusion at this stage. 70.124.78.66 (talk) 04:38, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] SOM?

Is Skidmore Owens Merrill a separate firm or merely a frequent typo? Rmhermen 14:52, Feb 5, 2005 (UTC)

"Skidmore Owens Merrill" is definitely just a frequent typo. 20:08, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Three Blind Mies

I've often heard SO&M called the "Three Blind Mies" due to critics' contention that SO&M's architects churn out substandard Ludwig Mies van der Rohe knockoffs. Surprisingly, I can only find a handful of google hits for this phrase, so I've not immediately added it. Should I add this? -- John Fader (talk | contribs) 16:36, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I found references in notes for a UC Berkeley architecture class, a Pulitzer Prize reprint of an article by noted architectural critic Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, and an article from the New Yorker. Another source (which google finds, but which is dead and which Google hasn't cached) suggests that the name came from Frank Lloyd Wright - but I can't find confirmation of that, so it doesn't belong in the article. I'll add the nickname, and some context, into the article. -- Finlay Mcwalter | Talk 17:42, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Isn't their work such as Lever House older then Mies glass curtain wall stuff? The first thing he actually built that was a tall curtain wall building was the seagram building.

While I can't say I've heard the phrase, I have heard much about the critics' assertion. IIT's Main Campus, with the greatest concentration of Mies buildings in the world, was finished by SOM (Walter Netsch in particular) after Mies left the school (because SOM was given the task of finishing the campus). Much of their buildings mimic other Mies buildings on the campus, especially the Hermann Union Building and the Paul V. Galvin library, which mimic S.R. Crown Hall, but in almost all cases they come short of actually matching the Mies design - Galvin and Hermann, for instance, have the large plate girders across the roof, but do not use them for structural support like Crown does, a major feature of Crown. Maybe this information could be added to better flesh out the "Three Blind Mies" reference. - Duncanr 5 December 2005

Well, gentlemen, I won't comment on the cheap shot which appears above, other than to point out that SOM is the only firm in the field of architecture to have been accorded the AIA Firm Award twice. SOM has garnered over 938 design awards since 1936. Substandard Mies knockoffs? Who says that? People who design strip malls and shopping centers? People who would *like* to work for SOM? Ludwig was one of the "Master Builders" of the 20th Century. SOM is one of the few firms which also holds that distinction. 12.170.149.5 21:15, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Quality assessment comments

This article could be improved by listifying some sections as wikitables. TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 23:00, 26 June 2007 (UTC)