Louis Sullivan - America's Modern Architect

American Skyscrapers

Louis Sullivan

Known as the “Father of the Skyscraper”,  Louis Sullivan was one of the most influential architects in modern history. His designs were considered some of the best in American architecture.

Boston in the 1870's

Boston's Horticultural Hall

Louis Henry Sullivan was born on September 3, 1856 to Patrick and Andrienne (List) Sullivan in Boston.  He was raised on his grandparent’s farm in South Reading, Massachusetts - but Louis had an affinity for the city.  As a young teen, Sullivan was fascinated with buildings, how they were constructed, what materials were used, and why.

MIT Logo

Frank Furness

In 1871, Sullivan entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the age of 16. He studied there for one year before moving to Philadelphia and landing a one-year job with architect Frank Furness.

Great Chicago Fire

Sullivan moved to Chicago in 1873 and became part of the design work force reconstructing the damaged city after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Dankmar Adler

In 1880, architect Dankmar Adler hired Sullivan as a draftsman and designer.  Three years later Adler made him a partner in the firm.  Adler and Sullivan began their partnership designing theatres. 

Adler was the partner who sought out and secured the large commissions; Sullivan was the architect who could design and create the visual unity necessary in tall buildings.

Auditorium Building

Auditorium Plans

But the commission that made their company famous was the Auditorium Building, built from 1886 to 1890.  Not only did it house a 4,200 seat theatre, but also a hotel, and offices located in the 17-story tower.  The building was so amazing, it helped the city of Chicago land the Columbian Exposition – the Chicago’s World Fair of 1893.

Wainwright Building

Carson Pirie Scott Department Store

Adler and Sullivan went on to design the Wainwright Building in St Louis, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, the Guaranty Building, now known as the Prudential Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Carson Pirie Scott Department Store on State Street in Chicago – all within a period of five years.

Sullivan is known for coining the phrase “form follows function.” This means that the form (shape) of the building should be based on what the intended function (purpose) is. Sullivan first used the phrase in 1896 in his article for Lippincott’s Magazine entitled “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered.”  It became the mantra of 20^th Century modern architecture and industrial design.

Steel Framework

Sullivan was the first architect to use steel frames in his skyscrapers. His American style of architecture simplified the look of modern buildings and created new techniques to lead the eye, and the population, upward. Sullivan believed that the use of steel in building construction was safe and economical. And with the continued growth of cities, vertical was the only way to expand buildings. The newly evolved high-speed elevators made such an idea a possibility.

Base Area

Sullivan understood the three parts that were fundamental to classical design - base, shaft, and capital.  His steel skyscrapers were divided into these three parts starting with a plain base that had plenty of large windows for the ground level shops.  Banks, stores, and other businesses that catered to foot traffic would occupy these street-level stores.

Vertical Shaft Area

The second design area (shaft) contained the offices. It was emphasized by vertical bands of masonry going up the corners of the building to emphasize its height. These tiers of offices could be built one upon another, with the individual offices being, as Sullivan described, "similar to a cell in a honeycomb."

Capital Area - Attic

 The final area was at the roofline where round windows were located.  This attic area was filled with the mechanics, pipes, and cables that came up through the building from the basement.

Details on Carson Store

Art Nouveau Details

While he felt that the practical construction of a building should be more important than the design elements, Sullivan did not object to ornamentation on buildings.  He was known to place Art Nouveau and Celtic Revival details fashioned from iron, stone, and terra cotta on his buildings.  The Art Nouveau vines located at the ground-floor level of building entrances became his signature mark.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Wright Design

Frank Lloyd Wright was Sullivan’s chief draftsman for six years and was intensely influenced by him.  It was Wright who took the phrase “form follows function” and adopted it as his architectural motto.  Wright used it as the backbone for his famous Prairie School architecture of the early 1900’s.

The Panic of 1893

In 1894, Alder and Sullivan dissolved their partnership.  After the Panic of 1893 when investors made a run on the gold in the U.S. Treasury, expansion and economic growth slowed down. Over 600 banks closed and 1,500 businesses failed during that time.  The U.S. economy would take four years to recover.

Van Allen Building

Peoples Savings and Loan

Sullivan received a few more large commissions, but without Adler seeking the business, the demand for Sullivan's designs began to disappear.   Slowly, he went into an emotional and physical decline.  Never again would Sullivan be commissioned to design a skyscraper.  Instead, he worked off and on, designing minor building in small Midwestern towns, and writing books.

On April 14, 1924, Louis Sullivan died alone and broke in a Chicago hotel room.  When former student, Frank Lloyd Wright heard this, he paid for Sullivan’s funeral.   Sullivan was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago; near the modern mausoleums he had designed for Chicago’s wealthy families.  A small stone was placed at Sullivan’s grave, and later, a monument was erected nearby. 

Chicago Stock Exchange

Louis Sullivan

Sullivan’s architectural goal was to create, in his words, “… architecture that will soon become a fine art in the true, the best sense of the word, an art that will live because it will be of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

~ Joy

A Look at Columbariums

Outside Columbarium

Similar to a mausoleum, a private or public structure that holds coffins, a columbarium is a structure that has niches or vaults to hold urns that contain cremains (cremated remains).

Six-sided Columbarium

It may consist of a wall or ground structure built of stone, brick, granite, or marble.  Or, it may be in a building where coffins and urns are placed in a comfortable environment with areas of reflection for family members to use when visiting.

Roman Columbarium

Roman Columba

Columbariums were first used by the Romans.  The ashes of loved ones were put in ornate urns and placed in sacred underground chambers, which were decorated with frescos and mosaics.  The word columbarium is from the Latin term columba which means, “dwelling place of the dove.” A columba originally meant a sectional housing structure for doves and pigeons, what is now called a dovecote.

Interior Columbarium

For hundreds of years, churches were the main places where columbariums were found. Many Catholic churches have columbariums located in them. The most favored locations for religious columbariums are within the church, or in church cemeteries.

Resurrection Mausoleum & Columbarium

Pickle Studio

One such columbarium is in the Midwest.  The Resurrection Mausoleum and Columbarium in Justice, Illinois, was constructed in 1969.  The Conrad Pickel Studio of Vero Beach, Florida, began work on the stained glass windows in the early 1960’s.  Over 22,000 square feet of faceted glass were used in the designs. 

Inside Resurrection

Outside Resurrection

This site has become a major architectural landmark and its faceted glass walls are the largest glass installation in the world.

The Resurrection Mausoleum and Columbarium is located at 7201 Archer Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Justice.  For more information phone (708) 449-6100 or visit http://www.catholiccemeterieschicago.org

Buddhist Columbarium

Since ancient times, Buddhism has also allowed the ashes of the deceased to be placed in urns and deposited in columbariums.  These structures may be attached to a Buddhist temple.

Exterior Columbariium

Mausoleum & Columbarium in Indianapolis

Now, public cemeteries and mausoleums have also added columbariums to their options.  A columbarium may be a freestanding unit, or part of a large, public mausoleum.

Inside Marble Niches

The structure may consist of an outdoor wall containing niches.  Or may be inside a building constructed just for this purpose. 

For Urns & Caskets

Columbariums are also located in public mausoleums, built in walls, along side the vaults for coffins.

The cremation urns or boxes are usually a specific size and are placed inside the lined columbarium niche.  The door is then closed and locked. 

Niche doors may be decorated with the deceased’s photo, or symbols of their life.

Garden Wall Columbarium

Columbariums allow family members another option when burial of a loved one may be too costly, or too far removed from where they are.  This lets the family “move” a loved one with them, if the need arises, yet still provides a special place where family and friends can remember and memorialize their loved one.

Interior Columbarium

A columbarium does not require an in-earth burial, but instead, allows for the interment of a loved one in a structure, away from the elements.  Most columbariums have seating available for the comfort of those who come to visit, and reflect.  As our world becomes more populated, you will see the need for more columbariums.  Will they eventually replace in-ground cemeteries?  Only time will tell…

~ Joy

Cemetery Angels at Easter

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Angels abound in the cemetery.  They have been described since ancient times as the guardians, guides, and intercedents for humans; as well as carrying out heavenly tasks, and acting as messengers of God.

Angels are considered to be spiritual beings that take on a human form with wings.

Angels are prevalently mentioned in the Bible during the Passover and Easter seasons.    They are recognized in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, although most Eastern religions do not believe in angels.

It is an angel that appears to Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, at the cross.

It is an angel, which rolls the stone away to reveal an empty tomb on Easter Monday.

Angels in the cemetery offer us clues to their identities, if we search for the symbolism surrounding them.

An agent of God can be seen pointing the way to heaven for a departed soul, or holding the wreath of victory over death.

There are also several famous angels found in the cemetery.  In Thomas Heywood’s Hierarchy of Blessed Angels, written in 1635, the Angels of the Four Winds are Gabriel of the north winds, Michael of the east winds, Raphael of the west winds, and Uriel of the south winds.

Gabriel is God’s primary messenger and the first angel to be mentioned by name in the Bible.

Gabriel is an angel in many religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  He is mentioned in religions such as Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Anglican Communion, and the Catholic Church.

Gabriel is considered to be a kind angel who performs acts of healing.  He is easy to identify in the cemetery – Look for his horn. Gabriel is usually shown with his horn in his hand or blowing his horn to indicate the Second Coming.

Another well known angel is Michael.  Michael is an archangel and known as the holy fighter.  He performs acts of justice and is considered the most “God-like” of the angels.

In the New Testament, Michael is the leader of God’s armies against Satan’s forces.  He is considered an angel in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Islam, Judaism, Anglicanism, and Oriental Orthodoxy.

Michael is usually seen with a sword, carrying a banner or scales (for justice,) or seen stepping on the devil.

 

Another cemetery angel is Raphael. He is recognized as an archangel in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.  Raphael is the angel that heals.

Raphael may be seen holding a bottle or flask.  He can also be identified when carrying a staff or fish.

Uriel is an archangel recognized in such religions as Judaism, Anglican, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Oriental Orthodoxy. He is known as the “light of God.”

Uriel is depicted in the Apocalypse of Peter as the angel of repentance. Uriel is also the angel that checks the doors of Egypt for lamb’s blood.  He is the keeper of the key to the Pit during the end of times, and can be identified carrying a sword or a palm.

Yet another angel seen in the cemetery but usually not identified is Samael.

Samael is regarded as an angel who is both good and wicked.  In Judaism, he is the angel that tempted Eve. He is also the angel of death.

Samael is depicted in the cemetery as the grim reaper with a scythe in hand.

There are said to be over 30 varieties of angels, but most are not given names.  They are shown to be like humans with wings and halos; acting as the servants of God, messengers of God, and who intercede between humans and God.

Angels are considered to be benevolent spirits, who protect and guide humans before and after death.  This may be why they are so prevalent in cemeteries around the world – Helping those who have passed, and comforting those who remain…

~ Joy