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LOUIS SULLIVAN
Louis Sullivan was an American Architect, spokesman for
the reform of architecture, an opponent of historical eclecticism,
and did much to remake the image of the architect as a creative
personality. His own designs are characterized by richness of
ornament. His importance lies in his writings as well as in his
architectural achievements.
Another info is that he was born on September 3, 1856 at
Boston and most of his young years, he stayed with his
grandparents.
FIRE IN CHICAGO
In 1871, there was a Great Fire in Chicago and it killed
approximately 300 people, destroyed 9 km 2 of the city and left
more than 100, 000 residents homeless. The center of Chicago
and the heart of the business district were wiped out.
Louis Sullivan was 16, when he was admitted to one of the first
classes of architectural students at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
In 1873, Louis Sullivan was only 17 years old and a college drop
out.
When in Chicago, He recalled his excitement arriving in the city,
remaking itself and said
“This is the place for me”
At that moment, he was convinced that he was destined for
great things.
So he gave education another try not in Chicago or Boston but
in the heart of European Culture, Paris, France.
1875 – He Returned to Chicago
He was a great façade Designer and an Ornamentalist. He
searched for firms that will best suit for him
1880 – He Joined Dank Adler’s Firm
Dank Mar Adler, the man on the slide is a Structural engineer.
And little did he know, that his collaboration with Louis Sullivan
will build the building of a lifetime.
1890 – Beginning of History’s Greatest Collab
Louis Sullivan together with Dank Adler was given an
opportunity to build and design the Auditorium.
The Auditorium
The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known
designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in
1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South
Michigan Avenue and Congress Street. The building was
designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater,
and a hotel.
TALL & SOARING THING
In 1889, Chicago City quadrupled in size and there’s nowhere to
go but up and there he became the Father of Skyscrapers.
The emphasis on expressing height was the clearest example of
Sullivan’s Assertion that
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“Form ever follows function”
Adler and Sullivan built only two skyscraper in Chicago and that
is the Schiller Theater and Chicago Stock Exchange Building
He was also a mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright
Schiller Theater
2. Works of Michaelangelo did bring him a great influence in
creating ideas and everything should be an original work
of art.
The Auditorium brought Sullivan an opportunity to be
Michaelangelo of his time
3. He believed that through his architecture, he could
make a difference in the society.

Schiller Theater, also known as the Dearborn and Garrick -the way people felt
Theater
- the way people related to each other
Life Span: 1892-1961
Location: 64 W. Randolph Street And the way people interacted with nature
Architect: Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler

If you were exposed, perhaps just even by seeing the

Chicago Stock Exchange Building
auditorium building from the outside or maybe going in and
Life Span: 1894-1972 looking at the Glorious lobby there, You might develop a greater
Location: Southwest corner of Washington and La Salle appreciation of what is beautiful.
Streets
Architect: Adler and Sullivan

SULLIVAN’S LIFE PERCEPTIONS SULLIVAN’s DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

1. Ornamentation is not a decoration but a way to confer
Character.
It is what made him unique from other architects. His ornaments
were original. Most Architects in his time depended on pattern
books to guide their work but not Sullivan. He sketched
ornaments by his own hand.
Remember the Seed Germ
The seed-germ is a reservoir of energy.
All lines are energy lines.’ In short, the purpose of Sullivan’s
philosophy of ornament is to make all things flow. The Germ is
the real thing that gives identity
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Just as Nature represented by the seed has within itself, the
possibility to develop infinite numbers of forms. So as human
beings create ideas and other things that they didn’t know they
could do but the potential is there to do it. Once you unlock the
seed germ.
Everybody has the potential to be a creative person, to be
something more than they are, we all have that.