Sullivan's travels

Graceland Cemetery gravestones - Carson Pirie Scott and Company building

For the 150th anniversary of Louis Sullivan’s birth, Chicago—the city that put Sullivan on the map—celebrates, discusses, tours and ponders the work of the great architect. But before you hit the flurry of talks and tours that make up this week’s symposium of Sullivan scholars (see sidebar), follow our DIY tour for an up-close look at some of the architect’s most noteworthy local structures.

1. The Auditorium Building
430 S Michigan Ave
When it was completed in 1890, the “American Parthenon” boasted ten stories, plus a 17-story tower, and was the tallest building in the world. Its height has long since been surpassed, but the building’s Sullivan-designed interior is still extraordinary. When Sullivan and partner Dankmar Adler were commissioned to build the first theater-hotel-office complex, it was Adler’s expertise in engineering and acoustics that won them the coveted job. But it’s Sullivan’s ornamentation that steals the show: floral plaster reliefs, carved wood and four gold-leaf arches punctuated with thousands of electric lightbulbs. Note that the building is still stable, despite the fact that the load-bearing walls have caused the floors and stairways to sink over time and lean at odd angles.

2. Stock Exchange Building
Formerly at LaSalle and Washington Sts, remnants on display at the Art Institute of Chicago
Sullivan’s 1893 Chicago Stock Exchange was not only a beautiful building, it spurred a local movement: Preservation efforts were anemic until an urban-renewal trend led to whole blocks being plowed and replaced with parking lots and bland office buildings. Advocacy group Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois formed to try (vainly) to save this building from its 1972 demise. Another preservation force, photographer and Sullivan fan Richard Nickel, sacrificed his life for the building: He was found crushed beneath the stairway’s demolition rubble. Fortunately the entryway arch and trading room were saved, and sit on display, along with some of Sullivan’s artwork, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

3. Jewelers’ Building
15–17 S Wabash Ave
Sullivan and Adler completed this loft building in 1882, when Sullivan was just in his mid-twenties. At the time, the arched window frames and geometric adornment stood out against the basic storefronts of Wabash’s Jewelers’ Row. But now you have to crane your neck and look behind the Popeyes Chicken sign to make out Sullivan’s signature style. Duck into the north alley on the corner adjacent to Wabash Street to see the only remaining column that boasts the original foliage motif.

4. Carson Pirie Scott and Company building
1 S State St
The cast-iron adornment on the exterior of the bottom two floors is one of the finest examples of Sullivan’s ornamentation. But other architecturally significant factors include the steel structure that supports the large three-paned windows that would become a signature of the Chicago School of architecture. Though it was originally a Schlesinger and Mayer department store when it opened in 1899, the building was acquired by Carson Pirie Scott a few years later. In August, Carson’s dropped a bomb that rivaled the recent name change of its State Street neighbor Marshall Field’s: The department store will leave the building it has occupied for more than 100 years. The building’s owner, Freed Company, announced that it would likely rent to retailers on the first two floors—an attempt to maintain the building’s integrity—while leasing out the top floors as office space.

Stock Exchange Building - Jeweler's Building - The Auditorium Building

5. Harvey House
600 W Stratford Pl
Tucked away in Lakeview, the 1888 Craftsman and Picturesque house was made for insurance magnate George Harvey when the high-rise condo–filled street was still part of a sprawling suburb. One of only three wood-frame structures made by Sullivan, this house might follow the fate of the others: The other two, situated in Mississippi, were swept away last year by Hurricane Katrina. The owner of the surviving building recently applied for a demolition permit to build—surprise, surprise—a spate of new condos.

6. Graceland Cemetery gravestones
4001 N Clark St
Lumber merchant Henry Harrison Getty commissioned a tomb from Sullivan in 1890 for his wife, Carrie Eliza. Less ornate than many of his filigree-covered buildings, the tomb is simple, serene and unarguably modern. Sullivan himself was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, near the Getty tomb and the mausoleum he designed for Martin Ryerson, the great Chicago art philanthropist and lumber magnate. Buried next to Sullivan is the aforementioned Richard Nickel.

7. Krause Music Store facade
4611 N Lincoln Ave
This building, originally a music store and now owned by a design firm, is undergoing a rehab, but if you can see past the scaffolding, you’ll notice its elaborate terra-cotta face. Sullivan’s facade for architect William Presto’s building was his final commission. In some ways, he ended on a high note: Built-in lights, grayish tiles and a scepterlike ornamental form epitomize his signature style. But the Lincoln Square storefront is also a notably small work. Several say his career’s diminished stature was because neoclassicism became the favored style, others claim that he was gay, and that his closeted homosexuality left him disillusioned by the straight male-dominated architecture world. A notoriously angry alcoholic, Sullivan died in his sleep in the South Side’s Hotel Warner in 1924.

Go, Lou. It’s your birthday.
“Building for Democracy: The Small Town Banks of Louis Sullivan”
This 35-minute documentary takes a close look at the eight banks Sullivan designed throughout the Midwest: in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s producer, Sullivan scholar and Florida State University professor Lauren Weingarden, and restoration architect Mike Emerson.
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, 4 W Burton Pl (312-787-4071, www.grahamfoundation.org). Thu 12, 6pm. Free; registration is required.

Louis Sullivan at 150 International Symposium
During this three-day symposium, eight internationally recognized scholars discuss the lasting significance of the architect’s work. The weekend will begin with a keynote address by architecture historian Jean-Louis Cohen (Fri 13, 6:45pm), followed by presentations from the University of Virginia’s Daniel Bluestone (Sat 14, 9:30am); Wesleyan University’s Joseph Siry (Sat 14, 11am); Weingarden (Sat 14, 1:50pm); Parsons School of Design’s Joanna Merwood-Salisbury (Sat 14, 3pm); founder of the Architecture School of Versailles Jean Castex (Sun 15, 9:30am); and the Getty Research Institute’s Wim De Wit (Sun 15, 11am). The event will end on Sunday 15 with a panel discussion led by Northwestern University art history professor David Van Zanten (1:40pm), during which all seven speakers will debate the impact of Sullivan’s work on modern architectural design.
Chicago History Museum, 1601 N Clark St (312-799-2004, www.chicagohistory.org). Fri 13, 5:30–8:30pm; Sat 14, 9am–5pm; Sun 15, 9am–3pm. Three-day pass $90, single day $45. Registration is required.—Jessica Linn