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Louis Sullivan, 154 Years and Still Counting by Barbara Stodola

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Louis Sullivan, 154 Years and Still Counting by Barbara Stodola THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 26, Number 39 Thursday, October 7, 2010 Louis Sullivan, 154 Years and Still Counting by Barbara Stodola The tale of famed architect Louis buildings are also on display, in ex- Henri Sullivan is the stuff of mod- hibits running thru Dec. 12. ern drama, ranging from triumph to Corresponding with this show tragedy, and still without an ending. is another exhibit, at the Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago is Cultural Center, of Sullivan’s writ- currently showcasing Sullivan’s ex- ings and architectural works, pre- quisite drawings, and photographs sented in the context of mid-19th of his buildings taken in the 1950s thru early 20th century cultural by three gifted photographers – history. Organized by Chicago art- John Szarkowski, Aaron Siskind ist Chris Ware and cultural histori- and Richard Nickel. Terra cotta an Tim Samuelson, it will run thru and metal fragments of demolished Nov. 28. Louis Sullivan Continued on Page 2 Louis Henri Sullivan (1856-1924) The curved corner of Krause Music Carson Store, with its Pirie Scott fabulous central & Co., with medallion, ornamental in Chicago’s façade Lincoln Park designed neighborhood by Louis Sullivan THE Page 2 October 7, 2010 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Louis Sullivan, “Fantasy: a study of curves in three dimensions” Details of hardware designed for Sullivan’s buildings to the “magnifi cent and wild” city of Chicago, which afforded great rebuilding potential after the devas- tating fi re of 1871. His partnership with Dankmar Louis Sullivan Continued from Page 1 Adler, a brilliant engineer, lasted for 14 years and Still another architectural event is the publica- produced more than 100 buildings of signifi cance tion, at long last, of a book more than 50 years in throughout Chicago and smaller midwestern cit- the making: “The Complete Architecture of Adler ies. Most memorable is the Chicago Auditorium & Sullivan.” The $95. book, the fi rst ever to com- Building, its excellent acoustics due to Adler and its pletely document the work of this famous Chicago sumptuous design to Sullivan. Today it is owned by fi rm, is credited to original authors Siskind and Roosevelt University. Nickel (both now deceased), along with John Vinci and Ward Miller, who tirelessly pursued the project. One of the greatest architects of his time, Sulli- van died bankrupt, lonely and cynical, without ever realizing that he would be long-remembered and revered. Today he is acknowledged as “father of the sky- scraper” and “prophet of modernism,” but histori- ans have always had trouble fi tting his work and his teachings into the progressive cycle of modern architectural history. Sullivan’s famous dictum “Form follows function” is what theorists wanted to hear and to repeat; but this oft-quoted statement is not easy to reconcile with Sullivan’s own style – the highly decorative, organic designs for cast iron and terra cotta ornamentation – beautiful but nonfunc- tional elements which captured photographers’ at- tention and form the basis of the current exhibits. In his youth, Sullivan was a talented but restless student. He dropped out of school at both MIT and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, fi nding their curriculum Arched ceiling in the Auditorium building, too restrictive. A native of Boston, he was attracted the arches concealing lighting and mechanical equipment THE October 7, 2010 Page 3 Idea of Louis Sullivan” (1956). Szarkowski later went on to become curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art. The trading room at the Chicago Stock Exchange, reinstalled at the Art Institute of Chicago Detail of frieze encircling the Stock Exchange trading room The high-water mark of 1893 was the beginning of the end for Louis Sullivan. The World’s Fair orga- nized by Daniel Burnham left little space for Sulli- Independently, though at about the same time, van’s innovations. His multi-colored Transportation Aaron Siskind began leading his students at Chica- Building, with its great golden arches, was the only go’s Institute of Design to do detailed photographic spot of color in Burnham’s “great white city,” and studies of Sullivan’s buildings. The Sullivan Project it widened the rift between the two architects. Sul- became a very timely undertaking, because several livan referred to Burnham’s achievement as “bogus of his buildings stood in the path of the wrecker’s antique,” and predicted that it would set back the ball, during an urban renewal period that occurred cause of architecture for half a century, if not longer. before local preservationists had organized. The move to document Sullivan’s buildings thus took on a heightened sense of urgency and drama. Richard Nickel, one of Siskind’s students, dedicated his life to preserving Sullivan’s architecture, moving be- yond photography to the actual rescue of ornamen- tal fragments. Nickel fell to his death during the demolition of the Board of Trade building. “Looking After Louis Sullivan,” the exhibit as- sembled by Elizabeth Siegel at the Art Institute of Chicago, thus brings together the work of devoted photographers, innovators in architectural photog- raphy, with the original designs that inspired their work – and casts light on the circumstances that characterized their lives and their times. Louis Sullivan Continued on Page 4 Richard Nickel’s photograph of the Garrick Theatre, taken during demolition Also in 1893, an economic recession struck the country, ultimately resulting in dissolution of Adler & Sullivan’s architectural fi rm. Since Adler had done most of the marketing, Sullivan received fewer and fewer commissions. He closed his offi ce in the Auditorium Building, moved into a dingy hotel on Chicago’s south side, and sunk deeper into debt and alcoholism. Frank Lloyd Wright, once his appren- tice, paid for his funeral. Sullivan had been dead more than 30 years when John Szarkowski, a young photographer from Wis- consin, published his ground-breaking book, “The Curvilinear detail of a frieze, executed in cast iron THE Page 4 October 7, 2010 Carson Pirie Scott & Co, originally designed by Adler & Sullivan for Schlesinger & Mayer department stores Louis Sullivan’s design, showing organic forms Louis Sullivan Continued from Page 3 growing from geometric base John Szarkowski, who succeeded Edward Stei- Carson Pirie Scott & Co. chen at MOMA, felt that too much architectural The photographs taken by Siskind and Nickel fo- photography was presenting isolated structures, cus on details of Sullivan’s buildings, and these are separated from the human life and environment the real stars of the show: organic designs that start that made them real. His photographs make no ef- out as geometric confi gurations and spring into exu- fort to disguise such details as air-conditioning units berant tangles of ivy and fl owering plants – estab- sticking out of windows – features that quickly call lishing the sensuous relationship between architec- to mind the creature comforts of the 1950s. In that ture and nature that was central to Sullivan’s ideal era, he also reminds us, women wore knee-length of beauty. dresses and high heels when they went shopping at Detail of iron gate at Getty Tomb, designed by Louis Sullivan Detail of a window encircled by elaborate cast iron ornamentation Your Source of Inspiration Creative Jewelry & Accessories, Spa Products, Kids toys & Infant Clothing, EŽǁŶũŽLJŚĞĞƐĞ͕&ƌƵŝƚĂŶĚ&ůĂƚďƌĞĂĚWůĂƚĞƐ͊ Gifts for the Home & Garden, Book your reservation now for the “Fall Festival at the Winery” Leather Goods, Nov 6 (details on web site) Greeting Cards, Coffees, Wonderful Teas, DĂŬĞLJŽƵƌǀĞŶƚͬWĂƌƚLJƌĞƐĞƌǀĂƚŝŽŶƐĨŽƌƚŚĞ,ŽůŝĚĂLJ^ĞĂƐŽŶ͊ Featuring… & much, much more… ĞŐŝŶŶŝŶŐKĐƚϭƐƚEĞǁ&Ăůů,ŽƵƌƐ͗tĞĚ͘ʹ^Ăƚ͘EŽŽŶƚŽϲWD KWE^hEz^͊EŽŽŶƚŽϱWD Cozy Throws for Fall Days Phone 269 586 2212 ϮϬϯϬdƌLJŽŶZŽĂĚDŝĐŚŝŐĂŶŝƚLJͻ;ϮϭϵͿϴϳϰͲϵϰϲϯ 2.5 miles West of downtown New Buffalo, MI on US 12 ǁǁǁ͘ƐŚĂĚLJĐƌĞĞŬǁŝŶĞƌLJ͘ĐŽŵ THE October 7, 2010 Page 5 Micky Gallas Properties 123 (219) 874-7070 CRS T 1-800-680-9682 www.MickyGallasProperties.com 0LFN\*DOODV $%5&5%&56H352 *5,65(6 &HOO Smell the Change of Seasons in the Air...It’s Great to Be Home Harvest of Homes Open House NEW PRICE Sunday, October 10th, 1-4pm EST 107 E. 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