HSTARC2: Reaction Blog (Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright)

Louis Henry Sullivan

Merchants National Bank, Jewel Box

This blog wouldn't be complete without mentioning Sullivan as the "Father of Skyscrapers". He went to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). I think he was really smart knowing that he could graduate both highschool, one year earlier and pass up the next two years in MIT. He entered the Institute at a tender age of 16. Then, he transfered to Philadelphia and had a job as an architect under Frank Furness

Wainwright Building

He only stayed under Furness for a year, because Furness had to let him go because of the Long Depression. He went back to Chicago where his parents were located. Together with Mies van der Rohe, Sullivan renovated the burned city of Chicago. In summary, Sullivan really liked tall buildings, he liked office buildings, banks and churches (most of his works are in Chicago, but some of his works aren't there anymore.). He also liked the use of classical columns and designed some columns of his own, and the use of ornaments in his interiors. He also used arches in his buildings.

"Form follows function"


Then, Louis Sullivan was a mentor to...

Frank Lloyd Wright

Prairie House

To be frank, Frank Lloyd Wright was a theft.

FLW was a prideful person, he didn't want anyone to step on him, even his mentor Sullivan. When Wright was still under Sullivan, he didn't able to jive well with the other draftsmen of Sullivan. It's because, some of Sullivan's draftsmen said that Sullivan didn't treat them well too. So maybe, the other draftsmen got jealous of Wright because Sullivan was all eyes on him all throughout.

Wright was also financially unstable that time because he was too costly on his things, he was a materialistic architect. Sullivan then, guaranteed Wright a financial-free job by offering him a 5-year-contract extension, but Wright was too demanding that he even asked Sullivan to pay a part of his house, as a cream of the crop in Wright's marriage with his first wife. Sullivan was really under Wright.

Falling Waters

Few projects came and the tragedy between Sullivan and Wright came. Wright claimed some of Sullivan's work which made him very angry, Sullivan was offended and fired Wright as soon as he knew everything. Then they didn't had any communications for the next 12 years.

But behind of all the drama and stories and soap operas that happened, Wright was a good architect. His characteristics for his were 1.) Flat roofs, 2.) Coned roofs, 3.) and structures that has a lot of squares and rectangles as its mother form.

And of course, during his later years, he was more in to organic forms. One of the best examples of this was his infamous Falling Waters.

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HSTARC2 Blog update:

Romanesque

Gothic

Renaissance

Baroque/Rococco

American Architecture

Growth of European States

Industrial Revolution

Arts & Crafts

Art Nouveau

Beaux Arts + Neo Gothic

Art Deco

Bauhaus

International Architecture

Louis Sullivan

Frank Lloyd Wright

Le Corbusier

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe