Wesleyan professor to speak on influential American architect

Rachel Pittenger Staff Writer

Famed modern architect Louis Sullivan revolutionized the way Americans thought about buildings at the end of the 19th century. The art department is now acknowledging this accomplishment with a lecture on Sullivan entitled “Louis Sullivan’s Historiograph: Modernist, Postmod-ernist, and Beyond,” to be delivered by Wesleyan Art History Professor Joseph Siry.

Sullivan’s work has influenced some of the best-known architects in American history, including Frank Lloyd Wright, who worked for Sullivan before branching off to pursue his own endeavors. After attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sullivan began designing buildings in the aftermath of the Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed many important fixtures in the city. He worked with his partner, Dankmar Adler, to construct a new image of American architecture based upon the idea that the most successful buildings unite sturdy functionality with unique, forward-looking form. Sullivan coined the phrase, “Form ever follows function,” a mantra that many American architects still take to heart.

In his early career, Sullivan worked with Adler to design buildings in Chicago including the Stock Exchange Building and the Auditorium Building, an enormous opera house that was meant to showcase America’s progress and worldliness. His body of work in other cities includes the Wainwright Building in St. Louis and the Prudential Building in Buffalo, New York.

At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair it became evident that Sullivan’s style was in decline. Indeed, this exposition showcased a return to neoclassical architectural trends and a movement away from Sullivan’s more modern style. Sullivan turned away from skyscrapers and other large buildings and began to focus on smaller structures, including banks in Iowa and Minnesota.
Shortly thereafter, he concentrated on writing and producing books that detailed his philosophy; he argued that architecture must connect to nature and democracy while maintaining its functionality. By the end of his life, Sullivan had exited the limelight, and he died in Chicago in 1924. However, those with whom Sullivan had worked, such as Wright, would carry on some of his principles well beyond his death.

Siry seems a natural choice to give this lecture. He also attended MIT, and has authored two critically acclaimed books about Sullivan’s contribution to architecture: The Chicago Auditorium Building and Louis Sullivan and the Chicago Department Store. He teaches both art history and American Studies at Wesleyan, two subjects that are united in the study of Sullivan. Siry’s lecture will be held in Taylor 203 at 6:30 p.m. on April 5.