SOMA is an award winning international architecture firm headquartered in New York. With its focus on incorporating craft, digital technologies and environmental responsibility, the firm’s designs and work have attracted critical acclaim for their boundary pushing nature. SOMA’s work is rising around the world today – in New York, Dubai, Erbil, Jeddah, Doha, Lebanon and other international markets - with remarkable offerings of luxury residential, hospitality, condominium and mixed-use developments that underscore the firm’s cutting edge appeal. SOMA works closely with clients to understand their needs and desires in relationship to external constraints in today’s ever changing cycle of occupancy and uses of buildings, providing adaptable planning so buildings evolve with their clients. The firm's founding partner, Michel Abboud is renowned for his avant-garde portfolio around the world. The Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York City further catapulted Michel into prominence, with one journalist dubbing him “the most controversial architect the US has known.” Such notoriety has led to a subsequent influx of invites as speaker and guest of honor at prestigious universities across the United States and Europe.