Skidmore, Owings & Merrill will design a new structure, expected to be named Trump Tower Chicago, to be built at the site of the Chicago Sun-Times Building, the paper reported August 7. SOM Partner Adrian Smith, FAIA, will head the team that works on the project.

"Skidmore has done a lot of great buildings, and they have a tremendous amount of experience with large buildings," developer Donald Trump told the Sun-Times.

People are conjecturing that SOM's appointment means that Trump will seek the world's tallest design. Further plans for the project will be unveiled in the next four to eight weeks, Trump said. SOM is responsible for Chicago's Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center. Smith designed the 88-story Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, a 2001 AIA Honor Award winner and China's tallest building.

According to reports, Trump selected SOM over at least two other firms. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York, and Lohan Associates, Chicago, had made the short list.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.