Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan (1856–1924) was an American architect whose innovative steel-frame office buildings helped shape the skyscraper. His writing popularized the principle that form follows function.

Steel-frame construction: A building method in which a skeletal framework of steel carries structural loads. Steel skeletons let Sullivan’s office buildings rise higher than load-bearing masonry allowed.
Wainwright Building: An 1891 office building in St. Louis designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Its vertical façade composition became a landmark expression of the tall office building.
Dankmar Adler: An American architect and engineer who partnered with Louis Sullivan from 1881 to 1895. Adler’s engineering and business skills complemented Sullivan’s architectural design.
Great Chicago Fire: An 1871 fire that destroyed much of Chicago’s central area and accelerated its rebuilding. The rebuilding boom created the urban setting for Sullivan’s architectural career.
Skyscraper: A tall, multi-story building made possible by structural, elevator, and construction technologies. Sullivan helped establish the skyscraper as a distinct architectural form.
Guaranty Building: A 1896 office building in Buffalo designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Its steel-frame structure and terracotta ornament show Sullivan’s mature skyscraper design.
Frank Lloyd Wright: An American architect who worked in Sullivan’s office before establishing his own practice. Wright called Sullivan his teacher and carried forward aspects of his architectural ideals.
Home Insurance Building: A Chicago office building completed in 1885, designed by William Le Baron Jenney and often called the first skyscraper. Its metal structural frame preceded the taller commercial buildings Sullivan helped develop.
Chicago School (architecture): A late nineteenth-century architectural movement associated with Chicago’s commercial buildings and new structural techniques. Sullivan’s work helped define this movement’s approach to the modern office building.
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building: A Chicago department store designed by Louis Sullivan, with major phases completed in 1899 and 1903. Its broad street-level windows and ornamental entrance adapt Sullivan’s ideas to retail architecture.

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