CHICAGO SCHOOL & WORKS OF

LOUIS SULLIVAN
Lesson 6

INTRODUCTION TO CHICAGO SCHOOL

The Chicago school was a style that developed as a result of the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871.
Before the fire, buildings were built of huge amounts of stone, and could not be very high.
Growing use of the elevator, and the steel skeleton, the buildings grew taller and taller. The steel

structure also allowed windows to be made bigger.

Architects were encouraged to build higher structures because of the escalating land prices
Conscious of the possibilities of the new materials and structures they developed buildings in which:
Isolated footing supported a skeleton of iron encased in masonry
There were:
fireproof floors,
numerous fast elevators and
gas light
The traditional masonry wall became curtains, full of glass, supported by the metal skeleton
The first skyscrapers were born.

Chicago's architecture is famous

throughout the world and one style is
referred to as the Chicago School.

The style is also known as Commercial

style. In the history of architecture, the
Chicago School was
a school of architects active
in Chicago at the turn of the 20th
century.

They were among the first to promote

the new technologies of steel-frame
construction in commercial buildings,
and developed a spatial aesthetic
which co-evolved with, and then came
to influence, parallel developments in
European Modernism.

A "Second Chicago School" later

emerged in the 1940s and 1970s
which pioneered new building
technologies and structural
systems such as the tube-frame
structure.

Some of the distinguishing features of the Chicago School

are the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding
(usually terra cotta), allowing large plate-glass window areas
and limiting the amount of exterior ornamentation.

The first floor functions as the base, the middle stories,

usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the
column, and the last floor or so represent the capital, with
more ornamental detail and capped with a cornice.

Sometimes elements of neoclassical architecture are used

in Chicago School skyscrapers

The "Chicago window" originated in

this school. It is a three-part window
consisting of a large fixed center panel
flanked by two smaller double-hung
sash windows.

The arrangement of windows on the

facade typically creates a grid pattern,
with some projecting out from the
facade forming bay windows. The
Chicago window combined the
functions of light-gathering and natural
ventilation; a single central pane was
usually fixed, while the two surrounding
panes were operable. These windows
were often deployed in bays, known
as oriel windows, that projected out
over the street.

SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL

In the 1940s, a "Second Chicago School" emerged from the work of Ludwig Mies van der
Rohe and his efforts of education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Its first and purest expression was the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1951) and their
technological achievements.

This was supported and enlarged in the 1960s due to the ideas of structural engineer Fazlur
Khan.

He introduced a new structural system of framed tubes in skyscraper design and construction.

The Bangladeshi engineer Fazlur Khan defined the framed tube structure as "a three
dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or
shear walls, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of
resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation.

Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube.

Horizontal loads, for example wind, are supported by the structure as a whole. About half the
exterior surface is available for windows.

Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space. Where larger
openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders
used to maintain structural integrity.

SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL

The first building to apply the tube-frame

construction was the DeWitt-Chestnut
Apartment Building which Khan designed and
was completed in Chicago by 1963.

This laid the foundations for the tube structures

of many other later skyscrapers, including his
own John Hancock Center and Willis Tower,
and can been seen in the construction of the
World Trade Center, Petronas Towers, Jin Mao
Building, and most other supertall skyscrapers
since the 1960s.

Some of the more famous Chicago School buildings

include:
Auditorium Building
Sullivan Center
Reliance Building
Gage Group Buildings
Chicago Building
Brooks Building
Fisher Building
Heyworth Building
Leiter I Building
Leiter II Building
Marquette Building
Monadnock building
Montauk Building
Rookery Building
Wainwright Building

SOURCES OF THE STYLE

The Louisiana-born architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Although he was trained at the

cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Richardson rejected the cole's dictum that the Greek and
Roman classical style was the ultimate standard of design. Instead, his ideal was the rugged
Romanesque of the South of France.
The second source of style for the architects of the First Chicago School derived from the

very nature of the material they so wholeheartedly adopted: steel.

The Chicago certainly contributed much to Illinois architecture, but hardly anyone knows

about the great ideas and strong personalities of

Dankmar Adler,

Louis Sullivan,
Daniel Burnham
John Root,
William Holabird ,
Martin Roche,
William Le Baron Jenney.

LOUIS SULLIVAN
Louis Sullivan- was born in 1856.Sullivan thought that architecture should never be studied as a
series of styles, because styles did not deal with buildings main design and construction.
An American architect based in Chicago and a member of Chicago school.
Sullivan was the main architect of this style
Sullivan provided his building with a firm visual base, treated the intermediate office floors as

a unit, and crowned the whole with a bold cornice

The decorative ornamentation devised by Sullivan and used on some of his office buildings is

based on floral motifs but organized in a manner closely resembling the Irish interlace of the
early Middle Ages
Sullivan designed with the principles of reconciling the world of nature with science and

technology
His buildings were detailed with lush, yet tastefully subdued organic ornamentation.
His attempt to balance ornamentation into the whole of building design inspired a generation

of American and European architects; the idea that ornamentation be integral to the building
itself, rather than merely applied.
He created a personal style that had few imitators or followers Sullivan is one of the few

human beings to whom Frank Lloyd Wright publicly acknowledged a debt of influence in his
career.
He argued that the building structure should express its function and coined the famous

phrase form follows function which became central theme. He mentored Frank Lyod Wright.

 Louis H. Sullivan was probably the most important American architect of the 19th century and is

still considered the Father of the Skyscraper.

Sullivan was born in Boston in 1856 and, at age 16, attended the fledgling Architecture School at

M.I.T. At age 18, after working under architects Frank Furness in Philadelphia and William
LeBaron Jenney in Chicago, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris for about six months,
followed by a trip to Italy, where he was particularly impressed by the Sistine Chapel. Sullivan then
returned to the United States and settled in Chicago. After working for a few years at Dankmar
Adlers firm as chief draftsman and designer, they formed the firm of Adler and Sullivan in May
1883. Sullivan was the primary design partner and Adler was the engineer. Adler and Sullivans
buildings, including the Auditorium and Stock Exchange Buildings in Chicago, the Wainwright
Building in St. Louis, and the Guaranty Building, were at the leading edge of American architecture
and skyscraper design.
The Guaranty Building was Sullivan and Adlers last collaboration; Adler withdrew from the firm as

the building was under construction. Sullivan increasingly turned his practice from skyscrapers to
smaller buildings in small towns. His career declined, and Sullivan died in obscurity and poverty in
Chicago in 1924.

CHARACTERISTICS

Bold geometric facades pierced with either arched or lintel-type openings.

The wall surface highlighted with extensive low-relief sculptural ornamentation in terra cotta.
Buildings often topped with deep projecting eaves and flat roofs.
The multi-story office complex highly regimented into specific zones or ground story, intermediate floors, and the

attic or roof.
The intermediate floors are arranged in vertical bands.
Large arched window
Decorative terra cotta panel
Decorative band
Vertical strips of windows
Pilaster-like mullions
Projecting eaves (the under part of a sloping roof overhanging a wall)
Highly decorated frieze.
Enriched foliated rinceau (an ornamental motif of scrolls of foliage, usually vine)
Porthole windows
Decorated terra cotta spandrels
Capital of pilaster strips
Guilloche (a pattern of interlacing bands forming a plait and used as an enrichment on a moulding) enrichment
Foliated and linear enrichments along jambs or entry

EXAMPLES
GUARANTY BUILDING(PRUDENTIAL BUILDING), BUFFALLO
WAINWRIGHT BUILDING. ST LOUIS.

WAINWRIGHT BUILDING

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.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright called the

Wainwright Building "the very first human

expression of a tall steel office-building
as Architecture.

WAINWRIGHT BUILDING

According to the design the first floor of the

building was intended for street accessible

shops with second floor filled with easily
accessible public offices.
The higher floors were for honey comb

office while the top floor was for water tank

and building machinery.
Based on structure of a classical column

emphasizing the height of the building.

The base contained retail stores that require

large glazed openings.

The ornament made the supporting piers

look like pillars.

Above it was semi public nature of offices

up a single flight of stairs are expressed as

broad windows in the curtain wall.
The building windows and horizontals were

inset slightly behind the columns and piers

as a part of vertical aesthetics to create a
proud and soaring thing.
Apart from the slender brick piers the only

solid of the wall surface are spandrel panels

between the window.
They have rich decorative patterns in low

relief varying in design and scale with each

story.

PLAN

SECTION

 Considered first sky crapper to forgo normal ornamentation used on

skyscrapers at theta point of time

ORNAMENTATION

Theornamentationfor the building includes a

widefriezebelow the deepcornice ,which expresses

the formalized yet naturalistic celery-leaf foliage
typical of Sullivan.
Decorated spandrelsbetween the windows on the

different floors and an elaborate door surround at

the main entrance
The building includes embellishments ofterra

cottaa building material that was gaining popularity

at the time of construction.

GURRANTY BUILDING

The Guaranty Building, which is now called

the Prudential Building, was designed
by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, and
built in Buffalo, New York
Sullivan's design for the building was
based on his belief that "form follows
function.
The Guaranty Building, which opened in
1896, is recognized as one of Sullivans
and is an outstanding example of his
innovations.
While similar to his 1890 Wainwright
Building, which combines masonry with
terra cotta for ornament, the Guaranty
Building makes ornament the focus
through the use of terra cotta to cover two
full exterior surfaces.
The piers between the windows form
strong vertical lines that draw the eye
upward to the dominant cornice.
His ornamentation for the Guaranty was
inspired by flowers, seedpods, and, at the
top of the building, the spreading branches
of a tree.

VERTICAL PIERS BETWEEN

WINDOWS

Guaranty was inspired by flowers, seedpods, and,

at the top of the building, the spreading branches
of a tree.

 While the exterior skin of the Guaranty

PLAN

expresses a new form for the steel skyscraper,

its plan indicates those hard realities of function
necessary to construct such a building and to
sell it.
The building is essentially a U-shaped plan

stacked upon a rectangular solid.

The interstitial spaces between wings of the U

create opportunities to introduce skylights to the

lobby below, and to cover the ceilings with
stained glass.
The plan contained a single vertical circulation

core with four elevators, a mail slot, and

staircase. No fire-stair was provided or
necessary.
The internal portion of the U faces south so as

to collect light for the interior recesses of the

building- light being a necessary commodity to
attract good tenants.
Sullivan spared nothing to accomplish this end

for: In order to increase the amount of light to

the interior, the stairwell and the light slit facing
the inner courtyard were lined with white glazed
terra-cotta that was more costly than normal
tiles.[
The first and second floors are united both

spatially and visually through additional

staircases and the intention of retail occupation.

PLAN

Mechanical systems were relegated to

the basement, including the motors for

the elevators, boilers, and electrical
dynamos.
Entrances were provided on both Church

and Pearl Streets. A concierge desk

offered services to tenants and guests
including mail delivery.

Above the base of the building were a

series of office floors of identical plan
were placed.

These floors featured private lavatories in

reconfigurable office spaces.

The halls were defined by wood and

glass partition walls, intended to give the

interior a bright and club like feeling.
The elevators and staircases were

enclosed not by walls, but metal cages

permitting southern light to penetrate
through the circulatory systems and into
the hallways.

The only exception to the rise of offices

was the seventh floor with lavatories and
a barbershop, and the top floor with a US
Weather Service Bureau office and
spaces for building attendants.

 He and Adler divided the building into

four zones. The basement was the

mechanical and utility area. Since this
level was below ground, it did not
show on the face of the building. The
next zone was the ground-floor zone
which was the public areas for streetfacing shops, public entrances and
lobbies. The third zone was the office
floors with identical office cells
clustered around the central elevator
shafts. The final zone was the
terminating zone, consisting of
elevator equipment, utilities and a few
offices.
The supporting steel structure of the

building was embellished with terra

cottablocks. Different styles of block
delineated the three visible zones of
the building. Sullivan was quoted as
saying, "It must be every inch a proud
and soaring thing, rising in sheer
exultation that from bottom to top it is
a unit without a single dissenting line.

ORNAMENT
The most remarkable problem for those wishing to

cast Sullivan exclusively in the camp of protomodernist designers is his steadfast and adroit
insistence to ornament his buildings.
Ornament is one of the most defining characteristics

of the Guaranty as The entire faade of this

building is clothed in ornament, like hieroglyphs on
the columns and walls of temples in ancient Egypt.
Sullivans ornament is unmistakably original, but it is
not without precedents in the contemporary tradition
of the English Arts and Crafts movement.
The Guaranty, for all its evocative general

expression of tectonics is equally as evocative at the

scale of its modular terracotta components. Here
the balance of interest between the individuals and
the group to which they belong is precarious, and
the sheer number of compositional elements makes
it difficult to attend to the individually.
It is difficult to determine whether the ornament

serves to reinforce the building or the building

reinforces the ornament. The experiential effect of
so much pattern and repetitive design is
homogeneity in tension with the expression of
individual components. reaching outward over the
street below

 Unlike the Wainwright building,

where ornament is more directly

patterned on historical forms and
where spandrels are self
differentiated, the Guaranty is
almost brutal in the hierarchical
treatment of and expression
within its terracotta relief. Such
conforming treatment is at odds
with the supposedly democratic
naturalism Sullivan claims for the
design. Especially near the base,
ornamental patterns reflect the
span and connection of
underlying steel members. As the
components rise, a rigid pattern
is followed, story upon story until
the cornice where the pattern
explodes into an umbrageous
tangle of leaves and vines,
encapsulating the windows and
The ornament tells the same

story as the theory which created

it: bottom, middle, top- light steel
skeleton within. The modulating
ornament of the Guaranty also
indicates the evolution of the
medium for Sullivan as an artist.

 His initial explorations were inspired

directly by contemporary work and

historical precedent. Eventually his
contact with Adler and work involving
the engineers aesthetic led to more
structurally expressive forms, and
eventually to an art only his own, florid
and organic.. His sketch for a column
capital at the Guaranty labeled finis
indicates the level of development
with which his draftsmen began work.
While containing some specific

information, the sketch indicates more

a painterly composition than a design
document. Curiously, the process of
design used by Sullivan to create such
innovation was precisely that which
prevented him from evolving his
conception of plan and section to
something his modern successors
would explore. In embracing the
French theories of plan and esquisse,
Sullivan remained firmly wedded to his
time and place.
By insisting upon the preeminence of

plan, he could hardly have begun to

imagine buildings with the spatial
complexity of a Wright or a Le
Corbusier.

COMPARISON WITH THE WAINWRIGHT

BUILDING
Comparisons with the firms first major success in tall buildings, the Wainwright are

instructive insofar as the refinements of the Guaranty are more evident.

Although this building is considered by critics to be the twin of theWainwright

Building, the elegance of the underlying steel-frame construction behind the red
terra-cotta tiles is more apparent here than in the Wainwright.
Unlike its predecessor, the entirety of street facades on the Guaranty are shrouded

with the same material- red terracotta.

Gone are the heavy corner piers of the Wainwright and in their place a constant

rhythm of equal bays echoing the steel frame underneath.

The two do share many traits: Simplicity of form, richness of detail.
Red color not chaste white of renaissance typical buildings characterizes both

buildings.
The site for the Guaranty building is smaller than the Wainwright, yet called for an

equivalent number of offices, resulting in an additional three stories.

The Guaranty Building is a radical departure however from the masonry prototype.
The Wainwright building may fairly be said to have revolutionized the emergent

form of the skyscraper, with ramifications felt for the next hundred years. The
Guaranty Building is a refinement and perfection of the form which the Wainwright
found, and its transfiguration into a spirit of design.