Louis Sullivan

Happy Birthday Louis Sullivan!! In 1856 this American architect was born in Massachusetts. He became fascinated with buildings and structures before he entered high school and decided he would become an engineer/architect. After graduating early from high school and passing exams for MIT (Massachusetts Technical Institute) he entered school there at age 16. He only studied at MIT for one year, and then went to work with architect Frank Furness in Philadelphia. Sullivan eventually moved on to Chicago where he became a partner with Adler and took part in the re-building after the great Chicago fire. He is credited for building the first modern skyscraper or steel high rise. He was influenced by the Renaissance, though, and his buildings’ ornamentation reflect that inspiration. He punctuated his structures with Art Nouveau decorative elements, organic twisting vines and ivy, and terra cotta and cast iron relief. Sullivan was a mentor to architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The structure below is the Prudential Building in Buffalo, New York, also known as the Guaranty Building, built in 1894.