Craig W. Hartman

Craig Hartman is the Partner in Charge of Design for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP’s West Coast practice in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

His work is exceptionally broad in its geography as well as in its typology, ranging from entire urban districts to singular works of commercial, civic, and cultural architecture. Hartman’s architecture is particularly noted for environmental sustainability and its nuanced consideration of the relationships between material, structure, form, and natural light.

Hartman joined SOM’s Chicago office in 1973 and served as a Design Partner in the firm’s Houston and Washington, D.C. offices before coming to San Francisco in 1991, where he has re-established the West Coast architecture group as one of the region’s premier design firms.

Today, SOM San Francisco is one of the world’s highly respected design practices, including internationally acclaimed architects, structural engineers, interior and graphic designers, as well as city planners.

While Hartman’s practice is international, his personal focus is San Francisco and the Bay Area.

His Bay Area work includes master plans based on environmental and social equity for Treasure Island and Park merced and important individual buildings such as SFO’s International Terminal, the St. Regis Museum Tower, 101 Second Street, the restoration of the U.S. Court of Appeal at 7th and Mission Streets, and the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.

Current Bay Area projects in design or construction include the Platinum LEED® 350 Mission Tower, the expansion of the Moscone Center, and several residential and commercial towers.

Hartman’s Bay Area work has been recognized for its focus on design excellence and environmental sustainability. He holds two U.S. patents for environmentally sustainable systems and over 200 awards for design and innovation. These include nine National AIA Awards for Architecture, Interior and Urban Design for work in California and the Bay Area—a level unequaled by any other individual or firm.

In 2012, the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition selected him as its “Housing Hero” for his design of the carbon net zero neighborhood plans for Parkmerced and Treasure Island and the resulting entitlement of over 4,000 BMR and 12,000 market-rate dwellings.

In recognition of his design leadership, he was elected to the AIA’s College of Fellows in 1995 and is a Senior Fellow in the Design Futures Council. In 2001, Hartman became the youngest recipient of the Maybeck Award, an award presented periodically by the AIA to an individual California architect in recognition of “lifetime achievement in architectural design.” During the dedication ceremony for The Cathedral of Christ the Light in September 2008, he was accorded the Vatican’s Knighthood for Service to Society (St. Sylvester).

In addition to his practice, Hartman takes a strong interest in architectural education. He has been an invited lecturer and visiting critic at several universities including the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Texas, Rice University, Ball State University, Stanford University, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the California College of the Arts, where he also served on the Dean’s Cabinet. In 2010, he served as the Walton Family Distinguished Critic in Design at The Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture.

Hartman received his Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors from Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning in 1973, where he was selected for advanced studies at the Architecture Association in London under tutor Cedric Price. Upon graduation, he was invited to join Walter Netsch’s studio at SOM Chicago. In 2009, he received an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from his alma mater.