Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History
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CHAPTER 4<br />
AMERICAN NEOCLASSICISM<br />
AND THE EMERGENCE OF<br />
THE SKYSCRAPER (1870–1920)<br />
One might question why this small group <strong>of</strong> Americans deserves their own chapter. As latenineteenth<br />
century architects, they approached modern architecture with less fervor than their<br />
European counterparts. Henry Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Richard Morris Hunt, and<br />
Stanford White practiced with one foot in the past. Their high Victorian gothic and Renaissance<br />
revival allusions, use <strong>of</strong> materials and connection to the development <strong>of</strong> tall buildings led them tentatively<br />
toward the modern.<br />
Although Sullivan believed that buildings needed to express their function, he never felt unified<br />
with the dedicated revolutions <strong>of</strong> Adolf Loos or Le Corbusier in Europe. Considered innovative in<br />
the design <strong>of</strong> tall buildings, Sullivan could not refrain from the decorative. He incorporated steel<br />
framing but lacked a conceptual expression <strong>of</strong> the new notion <strong>of</strong> the skyscraper. America’s greatest<br />
contribution to the inception <strong>of</strong> modern architecture was the steel structural system. The historians<br />
Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, in their book The International Style, disappointingly<br />
describe these architects as the ‘half moderns’ (1996). Unable to fully identify with the neoclassical<br />
architects <strong>of</strong> France, yet incapable <strong>of</strong> embracing a consistent belief in a modernist ideal, they reside in<br />
a moment <strong>of</strong> transition, at the cusp <strong>of</strong> a new era.<br />
The sketches <strong>of</strong> these architects illustrate their unique position and affinity to past styles. Much <strong>of</strong><br />
their visual expression reflects their education in the beaux-arts tradition. Remarkably poignant, these<br />
sketches typify their concerns and beliefs, reflecting the natural world in the case <strong>of</strong> Louis Sullivan<br />
and the stark minimalist essence <strong>of</strong> the gothic revival with Richardson. Hugh Ferriss’ sketches boldly<br />
demonstrate the emotion <strong>of</strong> the evolving social and political period, heralding the monumentality <strong>of</strong><br />
the ‘new city’ <strong>of</strong> tall buildings, while romanticizing the solidity <strong>of</strong> masonry construction. A brief<br />
summary <strong>of</strong> American architecture at the close <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth century and the emergence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
skyscraper will set the stage for a discussion <strong>of</strong> these architect’s sketches.<br />
For twenty years following the Civil War, architecture in the United States was mainly classical<br />
and gothic. During this period, the country was undergoing an enthusiastic building program<br />
including many governmental projects. Described as the second empire baroque, these monumental<br />
buildings had strong horizontal layering, mansard ro<strong>of</strong>s and classical elements (Roth, 1979).<br />
The great fire in Chicago in 1871 <strong>of</strong>fered a tremendous opportunity. Burning 1,688 acres <strong>of</strong><br />
wooden buildings, the need to rebuild was pressing (Douglas, 1996; Charernbhak, 1981). The 1880s<br />
were characterized <strong>by</strong> industrial and technological expansion. Industry was standardizing track<br />
gauge, huge corporations were providing electricity, the oil company <strong>of</strong> John D. Rockefeller was<br />
formed, and the emergence <strong>of</strong> the steel industry provided the materials to construct tall buildings.<br />
The small and bounded business district <strong>of</strong> Chicago produced the commercial building as a type,<br />
which quickly spread to New York City. These tall buildings satisfied the need for <strong>of</strong>fice space and<br />
efficiency in rapidly expanding cities. Contemporary construction <strong>of</strong> a steel frame clad with a curtain<br />
wall, the development <strong>of</strong> elevators and firepro<strong>of</strong>ing, and advancements in environmental control<br />
systems, set the stage for the birth <strong>of</strong> the skyscraper (Goldberger, 1982; Huxtable, 1982).<br />
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