Gary Haney, SOM Design Partner, and Aybars Asci, SOM Design Director, will lead two integrated courses—a supertall building seminar and studio—at Pratt Institute this fall semester.
The SOM Supertall Building Seminar will be an in-depth study of supertall residential buildings and the concept of efficiency. Through a series of exercises, including the investigation of residential tower case studies, the course aims to arrive at a more precise definition of efficiency and create models for evaluating efficiency within supertall structures.
A supertall building studio will be taught in parallel with the seminar. Students will be asked to apply the theoretical findings and building science principles discussed in classroom to a series of studio prompts, which will culminate in the development of designs for a supertall residential tower located on a site on 57th Street in Manhattan. Throughout the semester, Haney and Asci will be joined by fellow SOM architects and engineers who will serve as guest lecturers and critics.