About

Scott Duncan is a Design Partner at SOM, where he leads the design of large-scale high-rise projects in Chicago and in cities around the world. Duncan is a leader in sustainable design and technological innovation and has championed the firm’s vision for integrated design. The designer of some of SOM’s most influential recent work, Duncan’s design philosophy centers on solutions leading teams of experts in engineering, sustainability, high performance design, urban design, and interior design to realize highly contextual and impactful work designed to improve the lives of people around the world.

Duncan has amassed extensive experience in the design and implementation of complex projects throughout Asia, India, and the Middle East, as well as in the United States—including large-scale mixed-use, transportation, commercial, hospitality, and residential developments. Notable projects include a proposed 500-meter supertall tower in Nanjing, China; a 523-meter net-zero energy supertall tower in South Jakarta, Indonesia; a 380-meter World Trade Center tower in Guiyang, China; and One Bangkok, a 16-hectare sustainable development in central Bangkok, comprising several towers including one supertall—the first project in Thailand to target LEED® Platinum certification for Neighborhood Development.

His work has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects and the Municipal Art Society of New York; and has been published in A+U, Architectural Record, Casabella, Forbes, Metropolis, The New York Times, the Phaidon Atlas of World Architecture, and the SOM Journal. His projects have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Skyscraper Museum, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. In 2017, Duncan’s work on One Bangkok received a MIPIM Asia Award for Best Futura Project.

Duncan serves as Chair of the Height and Data Committee of the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a member of the Board of Directors of the SOM Foundation, and a leader of The Earth Project, SOM’s multidisciplinary research project on planetary health. He has lectured or served as a guest critic at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan. Duncan regularly serves as a jury member for architectural awards programs around the world. Duncan holds degrees from Lehigh University and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Scott Duncan is a Design Partner at SOM, where he leads the design of large-scale high-rise projects in Chicago and in cities around the world. Duncan is a leader in sustainable design and technological innovation and has championed the firm’s vision for integrated design. The designer of some of SOM’s most influential recent work, Duncan’s design philosophy centers on solutions leading teams of experts in engineering, sustainability, high performance design, urban design, and interior design to realize highly contextual and impactful work designed to improve the lives of people around the world.

Duncan has amassed extensive experience in the design and implementation of complex projects throughout Asia, India, and the Middle East, as well as in the United States—including large-scale mixed-use, transportation, commercial, hospitality, and residential developments. Notable projects…

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