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Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan was an American architect born in 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is considered the "father of skyscrapers" and pioneered modern commercial architecture. One of his most influential early skyscraper designs was the 1891 Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building exemplified Sullivan's principles of modern skyscraper design through its tripartite composition of base, shaft, and attic and emphasis on verticality through its narrow windows. It was also notable for being decorated with geometric and organic ornamentation rather than the typical ornate designs of other skyscrapers at the time, making it an important early example of modern commercial design.

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194 views9 pages

Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan was an American architect born in 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is considered the "father of skyscrapers" and pioneered modern commercial architecture. One of his most influential early skyscraper designs was the 1891 Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building exemplified Sullivan's principles of modern skyscraper design through its tripartite composition of base, shaft, and attic and emphasis on verticality through its narrow windows. It was also notable for being decorated with geometric and organic ornamentation rather than the typical ornate designs of other skyscrapers at the time, making it an important early example of modern commercial design.

Uploaded by

samaira
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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 Born September 3, 1856

Boston,us
 American architect,
 father of skyscrapers and "father of
modernism".
 Form follows function" is attributed to him
although he credited the origin of the
concept to an ancient Roman architect
 Wainwright Building
 Carson, Pirie
 Scott and Company Building
 Auditorium Building , Chicago
 Prudential (Guaranty) Building
 National Farmer's Bank of Owatonna
 Architects Sullivan
 Location Saint Louis,
Missouri, United
States
 Project Year 1891
 Among the first skyscrapers built in the world,
the Wainwright Building by Louis Sullivan and
partner Dankmar Adler is regarded as an
influential prototype of a modern office
architecture.
 In 1968, the building was designated as a
National Historic Landmark
 in 1972 it was named a city landmark
 Aesthetically, the Wainwright Building
exemplifies Sullivan's theories about the tall
building
 which included a tripartite (three-part)
composition (base-shaft-attic) based on the
structure of the classical column
 desire to emphasize
the height of the
building
 The base contained
retail stores that
required wide glazed
openings
They have rich decorative patterns in low relief, varying in design and
scale with each story." [16] The frieze is pierced by unobtrusive bull's-eye
windows that light the top-story floor, originally containing water tanks
and elevator machinery
One of Sullivan's primary concerns was the development of an
architectural symbolism consisting of simple geometric, structural forms
and organic ornamentation.[19] The Wainwright Building where he
juxtaposed the objective-tectonic and the subjective-organic was the
first demonstration of this symbolism.[1

In a utilitarian age like ours it is safe to assume that the real-estate owner
and the investor in buildings will continue to erect the class of buildings from
which the greatest possible revenue can be obtained with the least possible
outlay...The purpose of erecting buildings other than those required for the
shelter of their owners is specifically that of making investments for profit
The building is considered the first skyscraper to forgo
the normal ornamentation used on skyscrapers at the
time.
Some architectural elements from the building have
been removed in renovations and taken to the
Sauget, Illinois storage site of the St. Louis Building Arts
Foundation.

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