Book Description

In the early 1950's, John Szarkowski photographed the major buildings of turn-of-the-century Chicago architect Louis Sullivan.Now, in presenting his photographs with excerpts from Sullivan's writings and contemporary sources, he captures the mind, the spirit, and the time of this great architect. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

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Well-written and enlightening, if self-indulgent.
Any student of architecture, particularly the modern movement, will enjoy reading this work by the mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright and, arguably, the father of modern architecture. In it, Louis Sullivan writes about himself growing from a child into a man, and recounts his personal drive, his fascination with nature, his love of man, bridges, engineering, and buildings, and his desire to create something new without the help of the dusty books of Neo-classicism. Louis Sullivan was never known for his modesty, and the tone of this book is nothing less than self-celebratory, which lends an overall optimistic tone to it. A bonus is the extensive photo plate section - it's interesting to see how his works grew as he did. Unfortunately the plates don't coincide with the text, which is the major flaw in this edition. Overall, though, it's wonderful insight into the mind of this influential architect. ... Read more

Book Description

This carefully researched and profusely illustrated work offers abundant insights into the early development of the skyscraper and the influence of two master builders who played key roles in its evolution. Rare photos, floor plans, and renderings document such influential structures as Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Wright’s Larkin building in Buffalo, New York, and many others.
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good insight into their buildings
In this book, noted architectural scholar Donald Hoffman outlines the contributions of these two men and others to the fledgling skyscraper movement. Among the topics examined are the profit motive behind skyscraperconstruction, the importance of light in skyscraper design, Sullivan'ssoaring idealism, the "anti-skyscraper," exemplified by Wright'sPrice Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and many more.

Accompanying theperceptive, carefully researched text are 100 excellent illustrations,including rare photographs, floor plans, and renderings that document suchimportant structures as Sullivan's Wainwright Building in St. Louis, alongwith his Masonic Temple, Reliance Building, and Marshall Field WholesaleStore in Chicago; the A.T. Stewart store in New York; the San FranciscoCall Project; Wright's Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, as well as hisdazzling but never-constructed National Life Insurance Company project,Chicago, and St. Mark's Tower project, New York.

Architectureenthusiasts will find this comprehensive, authoritative study filled notonly with an abundance of insights into the early development of theskyscraper but also with the ideas and influence of two master builders whoplayed key roles in one of the most revolutionary developments in modernarchitecture. ... Read more

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The Early Louis Sullivan Building Photographs
If you love architecture and want to understand the birth of modernism and tall buildings in America, and uniqueness of the Chicago school of architecture -- the inspiration for generations of American architects including Sullivan's student Frank Lloyd Wright -- you have to have this book. It is a gorgeous work of art, the design of the book is so simple and compelling, the large plate photographs do justice to both the beauty and ingenuity of the architecture as well as the architectural photography. For lovers of art books, architecture, black and white photographs, for those who want to own a book as a piece of art, this is a wise investment. I know I treasure it -- reading it is like taking a journey to the past, one in which American architects still dared to dream. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Explores the idea that Louis Sullivan's ornament was central to his contribution as architect and city shaper. Early in Sullivan's career in the 1890s, when he emerged as a leading skyscraper architect of Chicago, his ornament gave scale and quality to his work. After 1900, as his career declined, it served to identify his buildings and the humane conception they encapsulated in an increasingly hostile cityscape. The brilliant pencil execution of ornament in his old age became a surrogate for the great architectural projects realized earlier. Stunning new color photographs illuminate this extended essay on how Sullivan's ornament shaped the city. ... Read more

Book Description

The best introduction to the work of one of America's most famous architects. Hugh Morrison's biography of Louis Sullivan was the first definitive study of his work. This edition provides the original text and illustrations plus an assessment of Morrison's groundbreaking research and an authoritative revision of the chronological List of Buildings, including corrections to the data in light of six decades of research. 112 illustrations. ... Read more

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A classic in architectural history!
Timothy J. Samuelson, Curator of Architecture at the Chicago Historical Society, has done a marvelous job at bringing out a beautiful new edition of this classic on modernist pioneer Louis Sullivan. Samuelson has written a perceptive and entertaining introduction to the book, and given an invaluable revised list of Sullivan's work along with vastly improved illustrations. Hugh Morrison first published this groundbreaking study in 1935, and it is still the starting place for learning about Sullivan. Morrison's writing is fresh and entertaining, and moves along at times almost like a novel. More importantly, Morrison's analysis and history of Sullivan's architecture remains solid and convincing. ... Read more

Book Description

With nearly 300 drawings and 130 black-and-white illustrations, as well as previously unpublished writings, this book gives a profound new perspective on Sullivan's genius.The great American architect Louis Sullivan believed that art should reveal the creative method of nature. The greatest artist was the poet, whose understanding of nature spurred social change. In his writings, drawings, and architectural designs, Sullivan's poetic genius is apparent, as is his life objective, a rebirth of American democracy through cultural reform. This volume is both a tribute to Sullivan's poetic vision and a catalogue of all his graphic work. The authors, Robert Twombly and Narciso G. Menocal, discuss the social implications of Sullivan's theories of architecture based on nature, with visual proof of his passion in illustrations of his work on paper and in three dimensions. A translation of "Etude sur l'inspiration," Sullivan's seminal and heretofore unpublished credo in verse, is further testimony to the architect's vision. The final section of the book is an illustrated catalogue of all extant Louis Sullivan drawings, some never before published. From his student sketches to intricate studies of ornamentation, the drawings follow Sullivan's evolution as an artist, architect, and social critic. ... Read more

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Cover Photo is Questionable
Sullivan's decorative designs are much cruder and less engaging than the design on the cover (The Schlesinger Mayer store) which is almost assuredely the work of his cheif draftsman, Geroge Grant Elmslie. This type of awesome interlace coincides with the years Elmslie was employed by Sullivan and reappears on Elmslie's work after he leaves.

Sullivan was a marginal architect (See Three Great Architects) whose greatest contribution may simply be that he was the focal point for the Group of Eighteen. ... Read more

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What might have been
It was a tragic loss to all of us when the International architectural style swept through.

Louis Sullivan and the Chicago School shows the richly decorated, interesting surfaces that were replaced by the International style's boring expanses of glass. Buy a copy of this book and savor images of buildings we don't make anymore. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Catalogue of the exhibition organized by the Contemporary Arts Center consisting of historical and contemporary proponents of a lineage of architecture that grew our of Louis Sullivan's system of ornament.Essay by Sidney K. Robinson detailing the contexts and works of Sullivan, Walter Burley Briffin, Bruce Goff, and contemporary architects Bart Prince, Herb Greene, and Terry Brown.Introduction by Robert A. Benson, Ph.D., in depth essay by Sidney K. Robinson of the University of Illinois, Chicago.Historical photographs and drawings. 80 pp., 15 color photographs, 32 black and white reproductions, checklist.Traveling exhibition. ... Read more