The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
American architectural firm founded in 1936 in New York City by Louis Skidmore (1897–1962), Nathaniel A. Owings (1903–84), and John O. Merrill (1896–1975). The firm helped to popularize the International style during the postwar period. Their best-known early work is Lever House (1952), which was designed by Gordon Bunshaft and reflects the influence of Mies Van der Rohe. Later in the century the firm adopted a postmodern aesthetic, seen in such buildings as the Worldwide Plaza in New York City (1989).
