RESEARCH General Arts

LOUIS SULLIVAN
Main Street U.S.A. rife with evidence of famed architect's influence

Melissa Mitchell, Arts Editor
(217) 333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu

12/1/02

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In downtowns across America – most notably, in the Midwest – brick-and-terra-cotta tributes to Louis Sullivan still line the blocks, holding their own with newer additions to the urban landscape.

The buildings – façade-oriented, utilitarian structures embellished with stylized ornamentation and erected mainly for commercial use – are classified by architectural historians as Sullivanesque. The term pays homage to one of the best-known, most imitated architects of the 19th and 20th centuries.

"Sullivanesque architecture was based on an aesthetic derived from the designs of Louis H. Sullivan (1856-1924) and adapted to mass production," Ronald Schmitt, a professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, wrote in his new book "Sullivanesque: Urban Architecture and Ornamentation" (University of Illinois Press).

"It successfully integrated ‘high art’ with functional construction. Although it diluted the high art of Sullivan, the Sullivanesque nevertheless retained a surprising vitality. The style was embraced by architects and speculative developers and gained a popular, mostly regional appeal that lingered for decades. The gap between the refined art of the originator and the ‘low art’ of the imitators was relatively narrow."

According to Schmitt, Sullivan had the rare distinction of being associated with not one, but three, architectural movements. " He was the acknowledged leader of the Chicago School and the unwilling instigator of the Sullivanesque," Schmitt noted.

As a leader of the Chicago School, Sullivan pioneered the design and construction of large-scale, multi-story buildings supported by skeletal steel structures, and is oft-quoted as the originator of the phrase, "form follows function." Sullivan also is credited with laying the foundations of the Prairie School, an architectural movement that evolved as an embodiment of the American industrial age and promoted democratic principles of design. Frank Lloyd Wright, whose name is perhaps most closely associated with the Prairie School, worked as a draftsman in Sullivan’s studio before going into business for himself.

The third major 20th century architectural movement to emerge from Chicago, the Sullivanesque appeared while Sullivan was still actively designing his own commissions.

"The term ‘Sullivanesque’ was defined almost immediately" by the architect’s imitators, Schmitt said. The bulk of Sullivanesque buildings that sprang up on Main Streets across America were designed and constructed by lesser known, often local, architects. These architects, Schmitt said, relied on an abundant supply of inexpensive building materials, including stock terra cotta ornamentation produced by suppliers such as Chicago’s Midland Terra Cotta Co.

In addition to functioning as a comprehensive history of Sullivanesque architecture, Schmitt’s book includes a 30-state inventory of buildings, 16 line drawings and 156 photographs.