Som Journal 3

by Candida Höfer (Photographer)

This third issue in a continuing series presents recent work by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, one of the world's largest and most influential architecture, urban design, engineering, and interior architecture firms. Som places the firm's production in the context of critical discussion among some of the profession's leading thinkers. Commentaries by artist Candida Höfer, architect Lisa Hutton, engineer Jane Wernick, and critics Diane Ghirado and Wilfried Wang give a frank review of the firm's current work. This volume includes excerpts from the oral history of Gordon Bunshaft, who led the firm from the 1950s through the 1980s. Projects discussed 7 WTC, the Bank of Kuwait, Cantilevered Green Glass Tube, the Delbarton School, the European Central Bank Competition, the Lever House Exterior Skin Replacement, the Milliken Carpet Collaboration, Memorial Sloane Kettering, the Qatar Science Center and the U.S. Census Bureau.

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2004

About the author

Candida Höfer (German, b.1944) is a photographer known for her large-format images of architectural interiors, which address the psychological environment of social and cultural institutions by acknowledging how public spaces are designed to accommodate and inform the public. After completing studies at the Cologne Werkschule, she enrolled in the Düsseldorf School of Art, where she was taught by Bernd and Hilla Becher, heavily influenced by the formal qualities of the austere documentary photography they endorsed.

Along with fellow German artists Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky, and Thomas Ruff, Höfer's work became internationally recognized in the 1980s, and her subject matter expanded to include a myriad of places rooted in cultural formation and preservation, including museums, libraries, universities, theaters, civic centers, and historic sites. She has held numerous solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States, and her work has been included in several group shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Documenta XI in Kassel, and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. In 2003, Höfer represented Germany in the Venice Biennale with fellow compatriot, Martin Kippenberger. She lives and works in Cologne, Germany.