LOUIS SULLIVAN

1856-1924

The
Father
of modernism
(in
architecture).
LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

LIFE HISTORY
•Born on September 4, 1856
•Died on April 14, 1924)
•Born in BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,
U.S.
•Was an AMERICAN ARCHITECT, and
• Has been called the "FATHER OF
MODERNISM."
•He is considered by many As

THE CREATOR OF THE MODERN

SKYSCRAPERs

•Was an INFLUENTIAL ARCHITECT

And critic of the CHICAGO SCHOOL,

•Was a mentor to FRANK LLOYD

WRIGHT,
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

BIOGRAPHY
• Louis Sullivan was born to an Irish-born father
• A Swiss-born mother,
• Both parents migrated to the UNITED STATES in the late
1840s.
• He grew up living with his grandparents in
MASSACHUSETTS.
• Louis spent most of his childhood learning about nature
while on his grandparent’s farm.

IN THE LATER YEARS OF HIS PRIMARY EDUCATION

• his experiences varied quite a bit.
• He spent a lot of time wandering around boston.
• He explored every street looking at the surrounding
buildings. This was around the time when he developed his
fascination with buildings
• he decided he would one day become a structural
engineer/architect.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

BIOGRAPHY
WHILE ATTENDING HIGH SCHOOL
• Sullivan met MOSES WOOLSON, whose teachings made a
lasting impression on him

AFTER GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL

• Sullivan studied architecture briefly at the
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY.
• Learning that he could both graduate from high school a
year early and pass up the first two years at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology by passing a series of
examinations,
• Sullivan entered MIT at the age of sixteen.
• After one year of study, he moved to PHILADELPHIA
• Talked himself into a job with architect FRANK FURNESS.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PERSONAL LIFE AND

LEGACY
In 1899 , he married to Mary
Azona Hattabaugh , known as
margaret , a 27 year old
d i v o r c e e , fi f t e e n y e a r s y o u n g e r
than him. She left him 10 years
later
THE COUPLE WAS CHILDLESS.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
PHILOSPHIES
•Sullivan designed with the Principle of
RECONCILING THE WORLD OF NATURE WITH SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY.

NATURE + SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

“HE USE TO BLEND

N AT U R E W I T H T H E
MODERN SCIENCE AND
TEC H N OLOGY”
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
PHILOSPHIES
• “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION” .

- Design should be mechanistic visual statement of utility .

HIS PRINCIPLE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MODERN

ARCHITECTURE AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN
THE 20TH CENTURY .
THE PRINCIPLE IS THAT THE SHAPE OF A BUILDING
OR OBJECT SHOULD BE PRIMARILY BASED UPON ITS
INTENDED FUNCTION OR PURPOSE .
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
PHILOSPHIES
His building were detailed with LUSH, yet tastefully subdued
ORGANIC ORNAMENTATION.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
PHILOSPHIES
•UNITY, as Sullivan understood it
and presumed it as a split
between
the structural system and
the formalistic exterior shell

Sullivan Krause
•THE IDEA WAS THAT Ornament
ORNAMENTATION
SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL
PART TO THE BUILDING •He laid FOCUS on the
ITSELF, RATHER THAN
JUST APPLIED. relationship
between STRUCTURE AND
ORNAMENT.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
•THEPHILOSPHIES
FOCUS WILL BE PRIMARLY ON THE INNER RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND ORNAMENT.

•SULLIVAN DID NOT VIEW THE

DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
AS ‘SYNONYMOUS WITH THE
REMOVAL STYLE. OF
ORNAMENT’,BUT RATHER IN THE
POSSIBILITY OF GUESTION OF
HISTORICAL
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

PRINCIPLES AND
PHILOSPHIES
•HE MASTERED THE ART OF DRAWING EXPERTLY THE
ORDERS OF CLASSICAL COLUMNS.
• SULLIVAN PROPOSED A NEW TYPE OF INTERDEPENDENCE
BETWEEN ORNAMENT AND STEEL FRAME
CONSTRUCTION WHICH HE VIEWED AS EQUALY FOR
ARCHITECTURE
 

•ACCORDING TO HIM, NO ONE WOULD EVER ASK WHICH IS

MORE ESSENTIAL ON A TREE,BRANCH OR LEAF . WHO THEN
WOULD BE CAPABLE OF SAYING, WHICH IS MORE ESSENTIAL
ON BUILDING STRUCTURE OR DECORATION 
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

HIS FAMOUS PROJECTS

BRADLEY HOUSE, (1910)

NATIONAL FARMER'S BANK

AUDITORIUM BUILDING
WAINWRIGHT
SCHILLAR
BUILDING, CHICAGO(1889) OF OWATONNA BUILDING (1890-
CHICAGO 1892)
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

design

Another signature element of

Sullivan's work is the massive,
semi-circular arch.

Sullivan employed such arches throughout his career—in

shaping entrances, in framing windows, or as
interior design.
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

design
various
D E C O R AT I O N in
TERRA COTTA 
done by L.Sullivan
LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN

Major works

Public buildings

Auditorium
Building,1989
Chicago, illinois
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN
Major works
office buildings

Wainwright Building
St. Louis (1890)

Guaranty Building
(formerly Prudential Building)
Buffalo,NY (1894)
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN
Bank buildings Major works

National Farmer's Bank , People's Federal Savings and Loan Association,

Owatonna, Minnesota(1908) Sidney, Ohio(1917)

Farmers and Merchants Union Bank, Merchants' NationalBank,

Columbus, Wisconsin(1919 ) Grinnell, Iowa(1914)
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN
Major works
churches

Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral Pilgrim Baptist Church (1890),

and Rectory,
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago (1900–1903)
 LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN
Major works
Tombs

Martin Ryerson Tomb Wainwright Tomb Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb

1889 1892 Chicago, Illinois,
Chicago, Illinois St. Louis, Missouri
SIGNIFICANT SULLIVAN BUILDINGS

The Wainright Building The Guaranty Building, Carson Pirie Scott Building,
St Louis, Missouri, 1891 Buffalo, New York, 1896 Chicago, Illinois, 1904