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History of modern architecture
Distinctively American architecture began with Frank Lloyd Wright
History of modern architecture
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Abstract: This essay is focused on how the Chicago fire and the ideas of Louis Sullivan were critical in the development of a new form of architecture in the United States and the societal and social influences that brought it all together.
Predating the frequently cited Frank Lloyd Wright and Daniel Burnham, a commonly overlooked name would be that of Louis Sullivan, who is responsible for pioneering an American form of architecture that broke free from the conventions of the past to embrace the city of Chicago’s possibility. During his height he was considered the most dynamic architect in the country. He had an immense impact on the future of architecture, constantly aspiring to push forward and
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In the 1880’s half an acre was valued at $260,000, and by the 1890’s the same plots of land had risen to a dramatic $1.8 million per half acre (Hoyt, Homer 1933). With the drastic price increases and the densifying merchant class, the only financially practical way to expand was up. By 1890 Chicago had a population of more than a million people and had surpassed Philadelphia to become the second-largest city in the United States (Sprague, Paul E). The low buildings constructed just after the fire were seen as an inefficient use of valuable space. Traditional masonry construction, which required thicker foundations and massive footings the taller the building was erected, limited the potential for growth. What was needed was a new architectural vision and a new construction technique. The vision was the skyscraper and the technique was that of skeleton construction, adapted from engineering methods developed in bridge construction. These material advancements allowed for economic and rapid construction of these tall structures in conjunction with the refinement of the technology for the modern elevator that made the height of these structures convenient and practical (Anderson, Christy). Buildings no longer needed to be held up by external masonry walls, but by an interior skeletal structure that would allow for many dramatic advances in the form and aesthetic of Sullivan’s work.
Sullivan’s
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It wouldn't be until his transition to post-fire Chicago that he would begin his own career. The Great Fire, while devastating to the cities infrastructure, provided Sullivan with the perfect stage on which to innovate and explore. His talent would quickly earn him the attention of several people who would sponsor his enrollment to the Beaux-Arts Academy in Paris. Although the Academy proved to be a major improvement to MIT, Sullivan still found himself enslaved to the concept of following the same old techniques in contemporary architecture. After returning to Chicago, Sullivan was convinced that Chicago was where he would achieve fulfilment, and set out to make his mark. His partnership with a brilliant engineer named Dankar Adler sparked this. Though Adler was highly skilled in the fundamentals of engineering buildings, it was Sullivan’s creativity that allowed the partnership to reach its full potential. Among their first projects, the home of Joseph Deimel and the Leon Mannheimer showed Sullivan’s desire to escape the
The "Mixed Metaphors in Chicago. " Architectural Review August, 1933. v. 74 pp. 47-49.
Burnham is a well-known architect around the world who previously completed work in “Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Manila, and many other cities” (Pg. 3). He was offered the job to design and build the buildings that would be a part of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair), after Chicago won the bid for the fair in 1890, and eventually took the offer with his assistant, John Root. The construction of the fair began in 1891 and did not completely finish until the fair was already halfway over in the summer of 1893. During those two and a half years, the success and reputatio...
Rayfield, Jo Ann. "Tragedy in the Chicago Fire and Triumph in the Architectural Response." Tragedy in the Chicago Fire and Triumph in the Architectural Response. Illinois Periodicals Online, n.d. Web. 02 May 2014. .
On Sunday, October 18, 1871 the largest fire Chicago has ever seen broke out. Hundreds died and thousands of homes were annihilated. Devistation towered over the city, ashes floated gracefully through the air as bodies, houses and cherished items burned. People ran in fear, holding their young, crying for the gone, searching for saftey. Searching for life. Searching for hope.
In Chicago, he worked for architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Wright drafted the construction of his first building, the Lloyd-Jones family chapel, also known as Unity Chapel. One year later, he went to work for the firm of Adler and Sullivan, directly under Louis Sullivan. Wright adapted Sullivan's maxim "Form Follows Function" to his own revised theory of "Form and Function Are One." It was Sullivan's belief that American Architecture should be based on American function, not European traditions, a theory which Wright later developed further. Throughout his life, Wright acknowledged very few influences but credits Sullivan as a primary influence on his career. While working for Sullivan, Wright met and fell in love with Catherine Tobin. The two moved to ...
Louis Sullivan, an architect, created the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building from iron, steel, glass, and terracotta around 1889-1903 C.E. This architecture demonstrates a Chicago style as an early skyscraper in Illinois in the United States. Louis Sullivan emphasizes the entrance to attract shoppers into the building.
However, the success of the building schemes relied on the construction methods and innovations that are now attributed as bei...
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
It appears that from the very beginning, Frank Lloyd Wright was destined by fate or determination to be one of the most celebrated architects of the twentieth century. Not only did Wright possess genius skills in the spatial cognition, his approach to architecture through geometric manipulation demonstrates one aspect of his creativeness. Forever a great businessman, Wright seemed to know how to please his clients and still produce some of the most innovative and ridiculed buildings of the early century. While the United States appeared to be caught up in the Victorian style, Frank Lloyd Wright stepped out in front to face the challenge of creating "American architecture" which would reflect the lives of the rapidly growing population of the Midwest United States. Howard Gardner in his book "Creating Minds" does not make any mention of Frank Lloyd Wright, an innovator who drastically influenced architecture of the twentieth century around the world.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)
“In the Cause of Architecture” is an essay written by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908. In this work, Wright outlines many of his architectural values. This text goes into great detail about the philosophy behind Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, as well as many important milestones in his life, such as working for Adler and Sullivan. This text is useful because it comes straight from Frank Lloyd Wright himself. It talks about many things important to his role as a notable American, such as his influences for his architecture and his architectural
In his early twenties, Burnham started working as an apprentice for William Le Baron Jenney, a leading architect in Chicago. In 1872 Burnham moved from Jenney’s firm to Carter, Drake, and Wight Firm, where he worked as a draftsman. During this time, he met his future business partner, John Wellborn Root. After a year of working at the Carter, Drake, and Wight firm, Burnham and Root started their partnership, and business flourished after the Great Chicago Fire. They were the main firm that helped rebuild Chicago, and from 1873 to 1891 they designed and helped construct 165 private residences and 75 buildings of varying purposes. Many of their buildings were heavily influenced by European designs. Exteriors were derived from the lavish yet simple ideas of ancient Greek and Roman monuments. Due to the high demand of office space in central Chicago, the firm adapted more modern desi...
The Chicago world’s fair’s official name was the World’s Columbian Exposition, and its original purpose was to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America, however Daniel Hudson Burnham, the foremost creator, wanted it to be something enchanting, a “white city .” While Burnham wanted the fair to be a “white city” the whole fair had to be greater in all aspects than the fair in Paris in 1889, because if the fair failed the honor of the United States would be stained, and the city of Chicago would be disgraced . Burnham wanted only the best American architects of the time and their plans for the buildings were fashioned after neoclassical ideas, they had a uniform height for the cornice, in hopes of creating harmony amongst the prominent buildings .
Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, who was a pioneer in the modern style, is considered one of the greatest figures in 20th-century architecture. Wright was born June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. When he entered the University of Wisconsin in 1884 his interest in architecture had already acknowledged itself. The university offered no courses in his chosen field; however, he enrolled in civil engineering and gained some practical experience by working part time on a construction project at the university. In 1887 he left school and went to Chicago where he became a designer for the firm of Adler and Sullivan with a pay of twenty-five dollars a week. Soon Wright became Louis Sullivan’s chief assistant. Louis Sullivan, Chicago based architect, one of America’s advanced designers. Louis had a profound influence on Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was assigned most of the firm’s home projects, but to pay his many debts he designed ‘Bootlegged Houses’ for private clients in his spare time. Sullivan disapproved, resulting in Wright leaving the firm in 1893 to establish his own office in Chicago.
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called “one of the greatest American architect as well as an Art dealer that produced a numerous buildings, including houses, resorts, gardens, office buildings, churches, banks and museums. Wright was the first architect that pursues a philosophy of truly organic architecture that responds to the symphonies and harmonies in human habitats to their natural world. He was the apprentice of “father of Modernism” Louis Sullivan, and he was also one of the most influential architects on 20th century in America, Wright is idealist with the use of elemental theme and nature materials (stone, wood, and water), the use of sky and prairie, as well as the use of geometrical lines in his buildings planning. He also defined a building as ‘being appropriate to place’ if it is in harmony with its natural environment, with the landscape (Larkin and Brooks, 1993).