INTRODUCTION:

Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 April 14, 1924). was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers"and "father of modernism He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School BIRTH SEPT 3, 1856. DIED- APRIL 5, 1924. INFLUENCED BY- HENRY HOBOSON RICHARDSON. INFLUENCED- FRANK LIOYD WRIGHT. WORK- CHICAGO, U.S. , ILLINOIS. RECEIVED AIA MEDAL IN 1944.

Sullivan and the steel high-rise Prior to the late 19th century, the weight of a multistory building had to be supported principally by the strength of its walls. The taller the building, the more strain this placed on the lower sections of the building; since there were clear engineering limits to the weight such "load-bearing" walls could sustain, large designs meant massively thick walls on the ground floors, and definite limits on the building's height The development of cheap, versatile steel in the second half of the 19th century changed those rules. America was in the midst of rapid social and economic growth that made for great opportunities in architectural design. A much more urbanized society was forming and the society called out for new, larger buildings. The mass production of steel was the main driving force behind the ability to build skyscrapers during the mid-1880s.

The people in Midwestern America felt less social pressure to conform to the ways and styles of the architectural past. By assembling a framework of steel girders, architects and builders could suddenly create tall, slender buildings with a strong and relatively delicate steel skeleton. The rest of the building's elementsthe walls, floors, ceilings, and windows were suspended from the steel, which carried the weight. This new way of constructing buildings, so-called "column-frame" construction, pushed them up rather than out. The steel weight-bearing frame allowed not just taller buildings, but permitted much larger windows, which meant more daylight reaching interior spaces. Interior walls became thinner, which created more usable floor space.

Chicago's Monadnock Building (which was not designed by Sullivan) straddles this remarkable moment of transition: the northern half of the building, finished in 1891, is of load-bearing construction, while the southern half, finished only two years later, is columnframe. (While experiments in this new technology were taking place in many cities, Chicago

was the crucial laboratory. Industrial capital and civic pride drove a surge of new construction throughout the city's downtown in the wake of the 1871 fire.) The technical limits of weight-bearing masonry had always imposed formal as well as structural constraints; those constraints were suddenly gone. None of the historical precedents were any help, and this new freedom created a kind of technical and stylistic crisis.

Louis Sullivan coined the phrase "form ever follows function", which, shortened to "form follows function," would become the great battle-cry of modernist architects. This credo, which placed the demands of practical use above aesthetics, would later be taken by influential designers to imply that decorative elements, which architects call "ornament," were superfluous in modern buildings. But Sullivan himself neither thought nor designed along such dogmatic lines during the peak of his career. Indeed, while his buildings could be spare and crisp in their principal masses, he often punctuated their plain surfaces with eruptions of lush Art Nouveau and something like Celtic Revival decorations, usually cast in iron or terra cotta, and ranging from organic forms like vines and ivy, to more geometric designs, and interlace, inspired by his Irish design heritage. Terra cotta is lighter and easier to work with than stone masonry. Sullivan used it in his architecture because it had a malleability that was appropriate for his ornament. Probably the most famous example is the writhing green ironwork that covers the entrance canopies of the Carson Pirie Scott store on South State Street. These ornaments, often executed by the talented younger draftsman in Sullivan's employ, would eventually become Sullivan's trademark; to students of architecture, they are his instantly-recognizable signature. Martin Ryerson Tomb, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago (1887) Auditorium Building, Chicago (1889) Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago (1890) Wainwright Building, St. Louis (1890) Charlotte Dickson Wainwright Tomb, Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis (1892) which is lised on the National Register of Historic Places is considered a major American architectural triumph, a model for ecclesiastical architecture,[26] a "masterpiece",and has been called "the Taj Mahal of St. Louis." Interestingly, the family name appears nowhere on the tomb.[28] Union Trust Building (now 705 Olive), St. Louis (1893; street-level ornament heavily altered 1924Transportation) Guaranty Building (formerly Prudential Building), Buffalo (1894) Buildings 18871895 by Louis Sullivan, with Dankmar Adler until 1895. Springer Block (later Bay State Building and Burnham Building) and Kranz Buildings, Chicago (18851887) The Auditorium Building, Auditorium Hotel and Auditorium Theater (now Roosevelt University), Chicago (18861890) Transportation Building, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago (18911893) McVicker's Theater, second remodeling, Chicago (18901891) Bayard Building, (now Bayard-Condict Building), 6569 Bleecker Street, New York City (1898). Sullivan's only building in New York, with a glazed terra cotta curtain wall expressing the steel structure behind it.

Commercial Loft of Gage Brothers & Company, Chicago (18981900) Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral and Rectory, Chicago (19001903) Carson Pirie Scott store, (originally known as the Schlesinger & Mayer Store, now known as "Sullivan Center") Chicago (18991904) Virginia Hall of Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tennessee, 1901[29] Van Allen Building, Clinton, Iowa (1914) St. Paul's Methodist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (1910) Krause Music Store, Chicago (final commission 1922; front faade only) 256 total commissions and projects of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan Selz, Schwab & Company Factory, Chicago (18861887) Commercial Loft for Wirt Dexter, Chicago (1887) Standard Club of Chicago, Chicago (18871888) Hebrew Manual Training School, Chicago (18891890) James H. Walker Warehouse & Company Store, Chicago (18861889) Warehouse for E. W. Blatchford, Chicago (1889) Kehilath Anshe Ma'ariv Synagogue (also known as the K.A.M. Temple, later known as the Pilgrim Baptist Church), Chicago (18901891) James Charnley House (also known as the CharnleyPersky House Museum Foundation and the National Headquarters of the Society of Architectural Historians), Chicago (18911892) Albert Sullivan Residence, Chicago (18911892) The

Wainwright Building (also known as the Wainwright State

Office Building) is a 10-story red brick office building at 709 Chestnut Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is among the first skyscrapers in the world. It was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in the Palazzo style and built between 1890 and 1891. It was named for local brewer, building contractor, and financier Ellis Wainwright.] The building, listed as a landmark both locally and nationally, is described as "a highly influential prototype of the modern office building" by the National Register of Historic Places.[1] Architect Frank Lloyd Wright called the Wainwright Building "the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture."] The building is currently owned by the State of Missouri and houses state office

St. Paul United Methodist Church is located in

downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. The Louis Sullivan designed building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985.

Land was purchased by the congregation for $180 on September 11, 1853 to build a church. A one-story brick church was begun the same year. During construction the building was blown over before the roof was completed. It was dedicated in 1856. As the congregation continued to grow a larger building was needed and in 1870 a new structure was built on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street SE. Progress on building the structure was slowed by the financial panic of 1870olioo

705 Olive Street

Built: 1893, as the Union Trust Architect: Adler & Sullivan Status: Still in use as office space. Street facade altered, 1924. After the Wainwright, this is Louis Sullivan's other major surviving design in St. Louis. Its street-level facade, which featured massive and heavily ornamented circular windows at the second story, was considerably altered in 1924. A remnant of the round windows may still be seen on the west-side alley, however.