Adrian Smith

Adrian D. Smith is an American architect. He designed the world's tallest structure, Burj Khalifa, as well as the building projected to surpass it, the Jeddah Tower. A long-time principal of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he founded his own architectural partnership firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago in 2006. Among his other projects, he was the senior architect for Central Park Tower in New York City, Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, and Zifeng Tower in Nanjing.
Born: August 19, 1944 (age 79) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater: University of Illinois,
Chicago, Texas A&M University, College Station
Occupation: Architect
Practice: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Buildings:
Burj Khalifa
Jin Mao Tower
Pearl River Tower
Trump International Hotel & Tower
Central Park Tower
Projects:
Jeddah Tower
Azerbaijan Tower
Early life and Education:
Adrian Smith was born in Chicago in 1944. When he was four years old, his family moved to Southern California, where he grew up. His interest in drawing led his mother to suggest that he study architecture.
Smith attended Texas A&M University, pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture while being involved with the Corps of Cadets. However, he did not graduate and instead started working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in 1967. He finished his education at the University of Illinois, Chicago College of Architecture and Arts, graduating in 1969. In 2013, Smith was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters degree from Texas A&M University.
Career:
Smith spent many years at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Chicago, beginning in 1967 and was a Design Partner from 1980 to 2003 and a Consulting Design Partner from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, he founded Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), which is dedicated to the design of high-performance, energy-efficient and sustainable architecture on an international scale. In 2008, he co-founded the MEP firm of Positive Energy Practice (PEP), which specializes in the environmental engineering of high-performance, energy-efficient architecture.
The petal shape of Burj Khalifa was a major architectural contribution by Smith. The shape of Burj Khalifa was inspired by Spider Lily flower. The three petal shape re-configures as the building height increases. The change in pattern along the height does not allow flow pattern to organize. This confuses the wind and save the building from the effect of vortex shedding. Smith also credited to introduce the first large-scale commercial passive double-wall structure in the United States located at 601 Congress Street in Boston in 2006.
Design philosophy:
Smith has great passion for the use of vernacular and indigenous forms and compositions and this can be seen in his work as well. With evolution in the world of technology he is up to the integration of regional techniques and industrial methods for his designs. He focuses majorly on the physical features of each of his design.
Since the major goal for all of his projects is to achieve the environmental sustainability so he puts so much attention to location, climate, geographical, geological, cultural, and social influences of site.
During the course of some recent years he has adopted a new design approach of producing energy “on site”. In order to make sustainable buildings with less energy and more efficiency he designs buildings in such a way that they absorb more and more energy from natural resources including sunlight, wind and geothermal conditions thus producing energy for projects on the respective sites. This not only aids the energy but also lessens the dependency of buildings on the local infrastructure.
Smith’s this technique has opened up new dimensions in the field of architecture and led to the proposal of new philosophy in architectural world called Global Contextualism.
Awards and recognitions:
Projects Smith designed have won over 125 awards including 5 international awards, 9 National American Institute of Architects Awards, 35 State and Chicago AIA Awards, and 3 Urban Land Institute Awards for Excellence. He was the recipient of the CTBUH 2011 Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award. Smith's work at SOM has been featured in museums in the United States, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.
Quotes:
“When I designed a building, I wanted it to look as if it could only exist in this location”
“I've never been much for theory and scales.”

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