Impact of Technology
From Victorian Gothic to Skyscrapers
Victorian Gothic and Romanesque [1860-1890]
Impact of Ruskin's writings in the 1850s create Gothic and
Romanesque forms with increased surface variation. Especially
important is the use of polychromatic techniques to detail the
structures.
Memorial Hall, Harvard,
MA, 1870-78
(Ware & Van Brunt)
Furness & Hewitt,
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1871-76
Provident Life and Trust Company,
Philadelphia, PA, 1876-79 (W:1879) (Frank
Furness)
Gallaudet College, College Hall, Seventh & Florida
Avenue Northeast, Washington, District of
Columbia, DC, 1870 Frederic C. Withers
Petersburg, Va, 1890s
Rochester Free Academy, 13 Fitzhugh Street,
Rochester, Monroe, NY, A J Warner, 1872
Richardsonian Romanesque,
1800-1900
Henry Hobson Richardson
(1838-86)
Rough-faced stonework
Towers
Round arches
Windows—deeply set in walls
and arranged in groups
Poly-chrome surfaces
John J. Glessner House
Chicago, Illinois,
Crane Public Library
Quincy, Mass., 1880-82
North Easton RR Station,
North Easton, Mass., 1881-82
Austin Hall, Harvard Univ.
Cambridge, Mass., 1881-84
Marshall Fields Warehouse Chicago, Illinois, 1885-1887
Henry Hobson Richardson dies on April 27, 1886 at age 47 of Bright's disease.
Chicago Historical Society
Chicago, Illinois, 1892
Tall Buildings
Pre-Civil War context
– Mostly buildings of 2-5 stories
– Balloon framing dominant for domestic architecture
– Monumental buildings of brick or stone
– Lack of large private businesses
Post-Civil War context
Increasing use of wrought iron facades
Impetus for taller buildings
Symbolic of “rising” power of corporate businesses
Symbolic of massive business and wealth
Symbolic of integration between business and art/culture
Symbolic of community aspirations and municipal pride
Changing Technology
Need for space
Telephones, telegraphs, electricity
New technological developments
– Industrial strength plate glass—John Ford, 1865
– Safety elevators- Elisha Otis
– Structural system doesn’t require thick exterior walls. Pier
and Spandrel
– Fire proofing
Pier and Spandrel Construction
Terra cotta—new uses for an ancient material
Terra cotta is made of clay, water, and previously fired products (grog).
The mixture is forced into a mold, or extruded, dried and fired.
The product can be used without covering, or glazed for a weather-proof surface.
Because of the transportation costs, terra cotta firms were established near the location of
suitable clay beds.
A number of firms began in northern Illinois just prior to the fire of 1871.
Northwestern Terra Cotta Co. Founded in Chicago in 1878, this company became a major
producer of terra cotta trimmings used by the construction industry.
The Chicago School, 1890-1920
Architects
– William Le Baron Jenney (architect & engineer)
– Daniel Burnham (architect) and John W. Root (engineer)
– Louis Sullivan (architect) and Dankmar Adler (engineer)
– William Holabird (engineer) and Martin Roche (architect)
Design Principles
“Form follows function”
Structural rationalism (Base, shaft, and capital)
Individual levels are large open spaces for different uses.
Decorative elements are complex but not proportional.
Construction innovation: Terra cotta panels, “Chicago window”,
Projecting eaves
Home Insurance Building Chicago, 1883-85
Wm. Le Baron Jenney
Monadnock Building, Chicago
1884-92, Burnham & Root
Marquette Building, Chicago
1893-94, Holabird and Roche
Reliance Building, Chicago 1889-95, Burnham and Root
Reliance Building, terra cotta covers of piers and
spandrels
Curtain walls
Chicago Auditorium, 1886-90 Adler and Sullivan
Louis Sullivan’s “Theory of Ornament”
Wainwright ornament
Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri, 1890-91
Adler and Sullivan
Light well with skylight
Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company Store, Chicago, 18911904
Chicago window
Guaranty Building, Buffalo, NY 1895
Bayard Building, NYC, 1897-99
National Farmer’s Bank Owatonna, Minnesota, 1907-08