Synopses & Reviews
Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) was a giant of architecture, the father of architectural modernism, and one of the earliest builders of the skyscraper. Along with Dankmar Adler (1844-1900) he designed many of the buildings that defined nineteenth-century architecture not only in Chicago but in cities across America—and continue to be admired today. Among their iconic designs are the former Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicagos Auditorium Building and Carson Pirie Scott flagship store, the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, and the Guaranty Building in Buffalo. This first-of-its-kind catalogue raisonné of the work of Adler and Sullivan—both as a team and individual architects—is a lavish celebration of the designs of these two seminal architects who paved the way for the modern skylines that continue to inspire city dwellers today.
The quest to pull together a complete catalogue of their work was first undertaken in 1952 by photographer Aaron Siskind and Richard Nickel, one of his graduate students at what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. This intense, decades-long labor of love has resulted in an extensive and unique resource that includes a complete listing of all of the buildings and projects undertaken by Adler and Sullivan. Each listing contains historic photographs, architectural plans (when available), and a description of each project. Alongside over two and hundred fifty essays are eight hundred photographs of their buildings—many of which have since been demolished—including images by Nickel, Siskind, and other noted photographers.
This rich, incomparable reference will be treasured by readers interested in architecture, photography, and Chicagos rich history as an architectural mecca.
Review
“
The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan is a work that will quickly become an essential resource for every architectural scholar. . . . [It] is a profoundly moving portrait . . . . For Louis Sullivan, this book, better than any biography, is an epic journey of the progress of a soul.”
Lynn Becker
Review
“One of the big architectural events in Chicago this fall is a book, not a building. Because a number of Adler & Sullivans buildings have been senselessly demolished, the book is, in a sense a work of preservation, its photographs documenting the life of buildings we can no longer experience.”
Architecture Chicago Plus
About the Author
Richard Nickel (1928-72), attended the Institute of Design, where he studied with the photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. His masters thesis was a continuation of the Sullivan project conceived by Siskind. Aaron Siskind (1903-91) taught photography at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and later at the Rhode Island School of Design. John Vinci is currently principal of Vinci/Hamp architects. Ward Miller is the executive director of the Richard Nickel Committee.