Louis Sullivan: The Function of the Ornament

Louis Sullivan: The Function of the Ornament

William Jordy, David Van Zanten, Rochelle B. Elstein, Wim De Wit • The Saint Louis Art Museum

ISBN-10: 0393023583 · ISBN-13: 978‑0393023589 · 1986 · First Edition

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Completeness 51

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After years of buildings influenced by the functional International Style, contemporary architects have rediscovered the role of ornament as a humanizing element in their structures. No one practiced the art of ornamentation better than Louis Sullivan, significant designer of the skyscraper. From the beginning of Sullivan's career until the present day, his buildings have inspired praise, puzzlement, and controversy. He has always had an ardent following, although his reputation was, for a time, eclipsed by that of his employee and protégé, Frank Lloyd Wright. Renewed interest in ornamentation has brought Sullivan once again to the forefront of American architecture. His genius for integrating form and structure with ornamentation is celebrated here in both contemporary and historical photographs and in an enlightening text by leading architectural scholars. From the early Beaux-Arts and Neo-Grec influences to his search for the ideal tall building or skyscraper, and on to his later, smaller constructions in the form of midwestern banks that remain monuments to his mastery of ornament, this volume is a long-overdue tribute to a superb artist. David Van Zanten is associate professor of the history of architecture at Northwestern University; William Jordy is Goddard University professor of the history of art at Brown University: Wim de Wit is curator of architectural collections at the Chicago Historical Society; Rochelle Elstein is art bibliographer at Northwestern University; and Robert Twombly is professor of history at the City University of New York.

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