I am thinking of applying for an internship at SOM to try and learn more about huge buildings and how an office is run. But Im still not sure of the quality of work from SOM. I havent seen anything original or good come from them since before I was born, and all the new work is either horrible, or just a copy of something that was new 8 years ago... are there any good partners there? David Childs seems to make nothing but crap, and Adrian Smith is probably the tackiest architect Ive ever studied....Thoughts?
yep, you wont see anything but crap come out of SOM right now... esp when it comes to Adrian "Silver Fox" Smith... but almost all the partners are as bad as each other...
if you really wanna work a big office, try perkins & will... not amazing, but good for a corporate firm... most of their national offices arent that big-- but chicago office is where the action is, as well as Ralph Johnson.
design at som is done at a different level than partners and thats why ist so inconsistant from partner to partner. partners are more design managers and while may influence the overall direction -- not at a level i appreciate with regard to details and ideas[somewhat one-liners and very object driven as most big projects are]. quit frankly if you are looking for an 'interneship' i am not certain you will be able to pull your weight and say....'well i only want to work for so and so'. your 10 weeks will be spent where they need you. if you cant deal with that - dont bother. with 10 weeks or so on a 10 mil sf project you may not have the opportunity to be too influential.
i do like the fairfield elemenatary school [i think duffy of ny?] who tends to do smaller scale[for som] projects. like craig hartman out of sf although i dont like the new sf cathedral. wimer out of chicago is interesting but has done naught since joining chicago 2 years ago.
Thanks for the comments.. I guess id ont understand how corporate offices run. Ive only worked at small places. I just assumed the partners at SOM act the same way in relation to a project as Richard Meier does.. but the work is so inconsistent and bland.
Anyhow. Im not looking to work in Chicago or SF.. so some of those suggestions dont work to well. But thanks for the help!
Ive seen a recent project by SOM for a competition that they beat out Zaha Hadid and their project was a twisting tower... i think thats endemic to their condition. The twisting tower has been done by Calatrava so many times.. most of the issues are worked out with it. So at that point, it seems then SOM can decide to "use" the style as well.. I used to think SOM was at the front of design, but they recently seem very far behind it.
there is an SOM building in my town. it is my favorite building here, it is very cool actually, our art museum. SOM got fired half way thru and my boss took over though... It was also built 10 years ago.
Jun 8, 05 8:23 am ·
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Who is good at SOM?
I am thinking of applying for an internship at SOM to try and learn more about huge buildings and how an office is run. But Im still not sure of the quality of work from SOM. I havent seen anything original or good come from them since before I was born, and all the new work is either horrible, or just a copy of something that was new 8 years ago... are there any good partners there? David Childs seems to make nothing but crap, and Adrian Smith is probably the tackiest architect Ive ever studied....Thoughts?
maybe try some other large firm, only thing i can think of.
yep, you wont see anything but crap come out of SOM right now... esp when it comes to Adrian "Silver Fox" Smith... but almost all the partners are as bad as each other...
if you really wanna work a big office, try perkins & will... not amazing, but good for a corporate firm... most of their national offices arent that big-- but chicago office is where the action is, as well as Ralph Johnson.
design at som is done at a different level than partners and thats why ist so inconsistant from partner to partner. partners are more design managers and while may influence the overall direction -- not at a level i appreciate with regard to details and ideas[somewhat one-liners and very object driven as most big projects are]. quit frankly if you are looking for an 'interneship' i am not certain you will be able to pull your weight and say....'well i only want to work for so and so'. your 10 weeks will be spent where they need you. if you cant deal with that - dont bother. with 10 weeks or so on a 10 mil sf project you may not have the opportunity to be too influential.
i do like the fairfield elemenatary school [i think duffy of ny?] who tends to do smaller scale[for som] projects. like craig hartman out of sf although i dont like the new sf cathedral. wimer out of chicago is interesting but has done naught since joining chicago 2 years ago.
What about working for Polshek thats a big office..or KPF
Thanks for the comments.. I guess id ont understand how corporate offices run. Ive only worked at small places. I just assumed the partners at SOM act the same way in relation to a project as Richard Meier does.. but the work is so inconsistent and bland.
Anyhow. Im not looking to work in Chicago or SF.. so some of those suggestions dont work to well. But thanks for the help!
Ive seen a recent project by SOM for a competition that they beat out Zaha Hadid and their project was a twisting tower... i think thats endemic to their condition. The twisting tower has been done by Calatrava so many times.. most of the issues are worked out with it. So at that point, it seems then SOM can decide to "use" the style as well.. I used to think SOM was at the front of design, but they recently seem very far behind it.
can someone tell me when they were last on point with there stuff?
when he was around?
SOM = son of mother.
But anyway, the corporate experience is very logical and uesful and problem solving Based on my personal experience.
i hear brad pitt is hiring. you may want to shoot him a resume
totally agree with Ward.
Beinecke Rare Book Library, yale
lever house, new york
there is an SOM building in my town. it is my favorite building here, it is very cool actually, our art museum. SOM got fired half way thru and my boss took over though... It was also built 10 years ago.
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