Chicago School 1880s–1910s

The Chicago School comprises an intellectually elite group of

progressive architects in late-19th-century Chicago, Illinois. This

multistory structure establishes a new design language for

commercial buildings and comes to dominate the urban landscape.

Various factors in the Untied States facilitate the expansion of skyscraper construction.

HISTORICAL & SOCIAL New technology, improvements in communication and transportation, and new or improved anufacturing processes usher in a period of extraordinary growth in industry and commerce. In response, American businesses reorganize and revolutionize how they work. As corporations expand, they increase the number of employees and require more space. Progress of a new architectural type is not impeded in the United States because it does not share with Europe centuries-old cultural traditions and considerations for the common good. Until the invention of the passenger elevator in 1857 by Elisha Graves Otis, buildings are seldom more than four or five stories high. The elevator’s appearance and popularity in the Eiffel Tower sets the stage for its use in skyscrapers. Other new inventions, such as the typewriter (1868), the telephone (1876), incandescent light

(1879), and the dictaphone or gramophone (1888), transform office planning, types of workers, and their methods of working. Chicago experiences phenomenal growth beginning in the late 1830s. Many new buildings are constructed with wood frames and castiron columns . They or their firms become the leaders of the Chicago School, known for its development of the tall commercial buildings. Relatively simple office tasks are easily handled individually by hand. Following the Civil War. Productivity and profitability begin to drive office work and planning. Managers find that women are well suited for these tasks, so women enter the office workforce in greater numbers. Besides being more socially acceptable than previously, office pay is better than that of factory or domestic work. Once the technology and construction methods are in place and prototypes appear, the architect’s dilemma becomes how to articulate a multistory building to reflect a human scale. These first manifestations of modern architecture often express the structure on the exterior. Additionally, architects and engineers, such as Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, work together to solve structural and architectural problems. These partnerships are less bound by

the European Beaux-Arts tradition. Consequently, their ideas and Chicago School traditions of minimal ornament with little historical precedent run counter to the concepts of design promoted in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition by McKim, Mead, and White and others, They are more keenly aware of a need for design theory based on function, construction, and scale and are better.

All life is organic. It manifests itself through organs, through structures, through functions. That which is alive acts, organizes, grows, develops, unfolds, expands, differentiates, organ after organ, structureafter structure.Louis H. Sullivan, Kindergarten 1901–1902

DESIGN Early skyscrapers have grid-patterned façades, large windows for light, and little ornament. Verticality is emphasized as façades rise relatively unhindered by horizontals Land size and the need for light in interior spaces

drive overall shape and configuration. Façades, covered with terra-cotta or masonry, may have bay or oriel windows or, more often, rectangular ones between vertical piers Lower stories, which house shops, have large plate glass windows to make merchandise visible.

Significant advances in construction technology affect the structure, form, and composition of buildings in Chicago, New York City, and other metropolitan areas during the second half of the 19th century. Steel skeletons to replace masonry bearing walls or piers, foundations that can support tall buildings, and elevators to access upper floors come together to create the first skyscrapers, or buildings 16 to 20 stories high. Jenney’s Home Insurance Building of 1885 in Chicago is the prototype. It uses a metal skeleton composed of cast-iron columns and steel beams that support the masonry walls and floors. To fireproof them, iron beams are usually clad with terracotta. Steel frame construction leads to the introduction of curtain or non-load-bearing exterior walls that hang from the metal frame.

IMPORTANT BUILDINGS AND INTERIORS

multiple modules composed of a large office with two smaller ones behind it. Some floors have large open spaces for many workers. Heavy metal or steel piers punctuate the plan in a grid system at all levels to support the concentrated weight load. Piers permit more open and spacious interiors with fewer load-bearing walls, an early prototype for later 20th-century high-rise office buildings.■ Owatonna, Minnesota:—National Farmers Bank, 1907–1908; Louis H. Sullivan and George Elmslie.

■ San Francisco, California:—Hallidie Building, 1917–1918; Willis Polk.■ Sidney, Ohio:—Peoples Federal Savings & Loan Association, 1917–1918; Louis H. Sullivan.■ St. Louis, Missouri:—Wainwright Building, 1890–1891; DankmarAdler and Louis H. Sullivan.

DESIGN SPOTLIGHT

Speculative buildings, built by developersfor rentals, have plain, unadorned exteriors. Corporate headquarters, in contrast, are more lavishly embellished. Piers rising from ground to roof level separate façades into bays and organize the exterior composition. Street-level and second floors, which are tall, provide a heavy base with structural supports acknowledged in the design. Piers are wide and heavy at these levels to support the structure and give the impression of support. Large, wide display windows at this level showcase the merchandise in shops. Entries are large and prominently placed. Upper floors have many windows arranged in grid patterns around the entire exteriorThe profuse decoration, a trademark of Sullivan’s work, features richly carved geometric and organic motifs. Flower and plant forms are particularly important. Some of his buildings have large, stepped, arched entries framed with a U-shaped surround, all of which are highly ornamented.

The windows form walls, often referred to as curtain walls, a term reflecting a steel and glass construction system. A

few examples have bay or oriel windows that rise from the third or fourth floors to the roofline. A new introduction isthe Chicago window, a tripartite composition with a fixed wide center window flanked on one or both sides by double-hung sash windows for light and ventilation, as show on the Carson, Pirie, Scott Department Store . Windows come in prefabricated, standard sizes to take advantage of the new technology. The increasing ability to manufacture larger pieces of plate glass benefits

DESIGN PRACTITIONERS■ Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846–1912) and John Wellborn Root (1850–1891) form an architectural firm in 1873 with Root as designer and Burnham as administrator. The firm’s mansions for Chicago magnates lead to commissions for office buildings. Two of their most influential buildings in Chicago are the

Rookery Building and Monadnock Building.After Root’s death, the firm becomes D. H. Burnham and Company and continues to design buildings that influence Chicago’s cityscape.

INTERIORSEntries and lobbies, which are usually

two stories and atrium-like, are lavishly decorated with rich materials.

Impressive iron or marble staircases lead to upper floors.

DESIGN SPOTLIGHTInteriors: Main lobby, Rookery Building, 1885–1888, 1905; Chicago, Illinois; Daniel H. Burnham and John W. Root, with Frank Lloyd Wright as architect of the lobby renovation (bottom left and right) in 1905. Root, likely inspired by French department store design, creates this two-story interior court, which was hailed at the time as bold, original, and inspiring. Flooded with light from a glass roof, retail stores surround the court. Glazed white brick maximizes the light that enters the shops and offices on the first floor and mezzanine. A prominent staircase with cast-iron railing and newel post cantilevers into the space. In 1905, Frank Lloyd Wright gives the space a more modern appearance without altering its essence by replacing the cast iron with white and gold geometric details.

Elevators often appear in open cages, at least on the ground floors, with elaborate cast metal doors. Similarly,

restaurants, department stores, and shops have open, light-filled spaces and rich finishes to attract customers. Small, private offices maintain a domestic appearance with area rugs, wallpaper, or paneling. In contrast, larger offices,which are planned by managers, are plain and utilitarian with little color and decoration. Furniture defines the spaces. By the turn of the century, the office hierarchy becomes more evident. Sizes and locations of offices identify executives, managers, and workers, with executives and managers in corner offices or offices with windows. Most workers have small, windowless offices or sit in rows of desks in large open spaces, which become known as bull pens.

FURNISHINGS AND DECORATIVE ARTS

During the last half of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, office

furniture differs little in form and appearance from residential furniture.