Meet Louis Sullivan

   Louis Sullivan was a famous Architect who has greatly influenced Chicago's city-scape!  He was born in Boston in 1856.  He studied to become an Architect at MIT for a year and then continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.  Then he returned to Chicago and partnered with Adler, until Adler retired in 1895, their partnership lasting approximately 12 years.  Another famous Architect who worked with the pair until he branched out on his own was Frank Lloyd Wright.

    Sullivan believed that Arcitecture and design should represent the spirit of the time and the needs of the people.  His designs often used geometric forms.  Some of the buildings that you Chicagoans might recognize are:  

The Auditorum Building

Carson Pirie Scott Building

               Schiller Building

 and the Stock Exchange Building!   

He also designed the Wainwright Building in STL, the Guaranty building in Buffalo, NY and  many others.

    He died in Chicago in 1924.  He is ofeten referred to as the Father of Modernism and is credited as the creator of the modern skyscraper. He is known for coining the phrase, "form follows function", which places the emphasis on the demands of the practical use of the space as opposed to aestetics.

Lesson: It is important to study the history of Architecture and design to learn about these amazing Architects and Designers to appreciate where we came from and where we are going!