Turn of the Century American
Architecture (1895-1915)
By Laura Proctor, Amy Johnson,
and Kate Matney
General Overview of ‘Where we
were”
• The Victorian Age going on the
Elizabethan Era (Suffragettes, women
taking over the work force, and the
invention of the bra)
• Henry Ford invents the Model T; over 15
million sold in America alone!
• Isolationism prevails— Germany invades
Belgium 1914, U.S. finally enters war in
1917
General Architectural Themes
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Early Modernism
Gothic Revival
Beaux-Arts
Craftsmanship
Early Modernism
• First skyscraper built in Chicago 1885 (ten
stories), but Louis Sullivan later created
the most influential shape
– Geometric cube
– Base floor entrance
– ‘honeycomb’ of identical floors to stress
verticality
– On top service floor and cornice
The Wainwright Building
Evolution of Sullivan’s Skyscraper—
responding to the urban context;
The Bayard Building, NYC, 1897
The Gage Building, Chicago 1898
Carson-Pirie Scott Department
Store, Chicago, 1899-1904—
horizontal velocity
Sullivan’s apprentice— Frank
Lloyd Wright’s First Life
• Modern interpretation of Jeffersonian
theme— continuity and expansion: Frank
Lloyd Wright House, Oak Park, Illinois,
1889
Cross-axial plan
• River Forest, Illinois,
1898-1901
Craftsmanship
• Craftsmanship was found mainly in the
western states like California. It was
generally a bungalow house, with a low,
overhanging roof to provide shade. The
title of craftsmanship was derived from the
idea that the house should be natural, and
gardens were an integral part of this.
The Robert Roe Blacker House
First Floor Plan
Gamble House
Floor Plans
First Church of Christ Science
Interior
Beaux-Arts Style Architecture
1885-1920
-After the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in
1893, this style of architecture took off in America. The
exposition is also accredited with sparking the City
Beautiful movement
-Also referred to as Classical Revival, Academic
Classicism, Neoclassicism, and Renaissance Revival
-Beaux-Arts represents a mixture of styles, borrowing
from Greek and Roman models as well as Renaissance
forms. This architectural style emphasizes grandness,
even in traditional detailing and focuses on symmetry
-Bernard Maybeck, Frank Furness, Charles McKim, and
Henry Hobson Richardson were architects who
produced Beaux-Arts style designs. Many of these
architects, as well as Louis Sullivan, studied at the Ecole
des Beaux Arts in Paris
The World’s Columbian Exposition
The Charles Atwood designed
Peristyle
Bull and Peristyle from the
Exposition
Boston Public Library
1888-1895
Design Details of the Boston Public
Library
• Closely based upon the
mid 19th century
prototype of the
Bibliotheque Sainte
Genevieve by Henri
Labrouste
• Designed by the firm of
McKim, Mead, and White
• Constructed of bearing
masonry and stone
Richard Guy Wilson wrote, “The (Boston Public)
library was the first public building that
demonstrated the possibilities of collaborative
art, and was the first great example of ‘civic art.’”
Library 1st (left) and 2nd Story Floor Plans
New York Public Library
1897-1911
Design Details of the Library
• Designed by Carrere
and Hastings
• Carrere and Hastings
worked for McKim,
Mead, and White
before forming their
own firm
• Constructed of
bearing masonry
Library Floor Plan
Pennsylvania Station
1906-1910
Design Details of Penn Station
• Designed by McKim,
Mead, and White
• Constructed of plaster,
steel, and masonry
• The original design was
demolished in 1964
• Highlights of the design
were steel vaults, glass,
and cut stone columns
over steel