The aim of this discussion is to examine how the groundbreaking introduction of economically variable steel impacted Louis Sullivan’s overall design Scheme. The discussion will explore steel and the benefits it carried with it. Furthermore, the discussion will examine Louis Sullivan’s contribution to high-rise steel construction and what other where doing in the same period, comparing it to his innovative Wainwright building, in St. Louis (1890). The discussion will focus on and analyze an article published by him in 1896 ‘the tall office building artistically considered’, of how ornamentation and structural mass become one. With this, we can apply this philosophy of ornamentation to the Wainwright building. Through this exploration one hopes to gain a better understanding of how influential the introduction of Steel was to Louis Sullivan’s Scheme of creating a new American Architecture.
Before the end of the 19th century, a high-rise building was dependent on the strength of the walls to maintain the load. The taller the construction meant that more strain was added to the building. Due to the weight limitations “load-bearing“ walls could perpetuate, any large-scale construction at this time needed colossal size walls, therefore causing limitations on the overall height.
Approaching the end of the 19th century entered the development of economical and adaptable steel, which changed the rules surrounding weight limitation. At this time America was undergoing great economic and social development, which brought forth great potential for Architecture. As a demand for a more urbanized society was forming, taller and larger building were needed. The large-scale manufacture of steel was the primary main thrust behind the capacity to...
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...ise architecture at the time is undoubtedly one of his greatest achievements. Louis Sullivan gave light to the phrase, ‘form follows function,’ however, one could argue this to be hypocritical coming from the man who focused to heavily on ornamentation. Through in depth research, this discussion successfully concludes that, as Sullivan himself stated, a building that bears no decoration could be a magnificent building. Then again, in terms of the Wainwright building, when the ornamentation and construction turn into one, the building is likewise magnificent.
Interested in the inspiration that informed Louis Sullivan’s infamous ornamentation, this discussion explores Sullivan’s correlation between society and architecture in his work. Through the use of ornamentation Sullivan works to achieve organic architecture aspiring from the relationship between man and nature.
Louis Henry Sullivan's architectural adornment has yet to be known by individuals simply because of the adept evolution from forms from nature, and the penetrating geometric structures and connections found through every one of his works, yet more importantly the humanistic condition of consciousness that has been proposed. Sullivan recommends that in construction design, works of art should not stand on their own as an accessory, but instead be produced by the standards of building proposals, design, objective, and form. Sullivan's various structures were principally borrowed from natural forms, and their application gained from geometric understanding; they were then transformed and modified to the steel sections and curves, and enlivened
Dell Upton is a historian and renowned professor of architecture and Urbanism at the University of California. He has published several books on architecture; one of them is “Architecture in the United States”, published in 1998. In this book, Upton analyzes the architecture of the United States in different aspects, such as nature, money and art, thus depicting the great variety in architectural forms, and how throughout the decades, different interests have lead communities to different ways of building, different purposes and materials, thus reflecting their way of thinking and their relationship with the environment. By exploring so many different architectural styles, Upton reveals the great diversity and richness that has always, and continues to characterize American architecture.
The decade from 1880-1890 was an interesting time for America, giving rise to great advancement in architecture, inventions and businesses. For instance, such now famous companies as Sears Roebuck Company, DeBeers and Johnson & Johnson opened in this time (Timeline). Also, the Brooklyn Bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the world was set up in 1883 (Museum). This decade saw another milestone for architecture, the skyscraper. The first skyscraper, built in Chicago out of an all-iron frame, was completed in 1885.
Smith, C. Ray. Interior Design in 20th-century America: A History. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
At one time the building was one the tallest and biggest self-supporting building ever. This would not have been possible without the iron reinforcement cage support employed to add more reinforcement strength to the wall. People consequently discovered that steel was much better than iron and would make a very good reinforcement as well as allow for taller skyscrapers.
middle of paper ... ... Bolton, Arthur T. The architecture of Robert & James Adam. London, Country Life. 1922.
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
It will discuss the different types of dwellings throughout recorded human history from the perspective of how art and culture influences building design. This will fulfill my own curiosity to understand the different influences on homebuilding and design over the years and how people have dealt with these changes.
One of the most influential and well-known architectural engineers in America during the twentieth century has got to be Frank Lloyd Wright. He’s created and designed many creative and functional buildings for most of his career which spanned to about seventy years. His futuristic and modern designs were unique and creative, yet they were still functional for one to live in them. His eccentric thinking has brought about and greatly influenced the image of twentieth century architecture. His works have paved the way to the designs and structures of the civil engineers and architects that we have today in the twenty-first century.
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...
" I see ornament in architecture as having dual function. On the one hand it offers support to the construction and draws attention to the means it employs; on the other... it brings life into a uniformly illuminated space by the interplay of light and shade". -Henry Van de
The towers that were erected during the 19th century were pushing the limits of their construction. The stone blocks that were used to erect buildings such as the Auditorium Building in Chicago were massive and heavy and caused it to sink into the ground. At 238 feet the main tower was hitting the ceiling of stone construction. Structures built with stone had thick walls, large numbers of columns dotting the interior and small windows on the exterior. This typology is pervasive through the 19th century throughout New York as well as Chicago. This form was inefficient and was replaced with
To that end, he included ornamentation, allusion, quotation, irony, wit, mannerism, color, and decoration to his architectural repertoire. Fundamentally, Venturi never forgot who architects design: people. He placed meticulous effort on architectural scale, variety, and visual detail to make buildings meaningful and vivid for humanity. Venturi applied these theories in practice in the Vanna Venturi House, a private residence he constructed for his mother. The project’s interior focuses on the individual needs of ordinary people, which epitomizes Venturi’s overriding ethos.
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).
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.