“Poetic Structure: Art + Engineering + Architecture​” exhibition will showcase SOM's multi-disciplinary practice over the years

Following previous iterations at many major architectural and design festivals around the world, the exhibition “Poetic Structure: Art + Engineering + Architecture” will soon be open at the MAK Center Schindler House in West Hollywood, California starting June 30. Showcasing the multi-disciplinary practice of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the intersections between art and engineering, the exhibition will include multiple installations and projects by SOM in collaboration with various artists, as well as a never-before-seen hovering mathematically inspired pavilion. 

Read on for more about what will be in the exhibition.

The Ideas Wall is a mosaic collage of hand-drawn sketches from SOM's structural leadership, showcasing the firm's design process as a continuously evolving discussion.

“More than 30 structural models at 1:500 scale will be on display. The exterior walls are absent on each model to show the structural skeleton. By showing how the building maintains its identity without the presence of the exterior wall, the integration of structure and architecture is understood as seamless”

The exhibition will feature various art installations and digital projections created from SOM's collaborations with various globally acclaimed artists and architects, including: Janet Echelman's Dream Catcher, James Carpenter's Hope Tower, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle's Weatherfield, Jaume Plensa's World Voices, and additional work by Pablo Picasso and Peter Zumthor.

The Scale and Form Pavilion, measuring at 8' tall by 12' wide by 27' long, is “a doubly curved kinematic structure with stiffened wood panels hinged together. Inspired by the mathematical relationships between force and motion, the hovering pavilion will be suspended off aluminum trusses and braced with steel wires, and morphed into an expanded or contracted version of the original geometry with minimal effort.”

In addition to the exhibition, some public events include: panel discussions with SOM engineers, architects, artists, and community leaders; youth education programs; and building tours

“Poetic Structure: Art + Engineering + Architecture” will be open from June 30 - September 3, 2018.