David Van Zanten

Sullivan's City

The Meaning of Ornament for Louis Sullivan

Photographs by Cervin Robinson

Explores the idea that Louis Sullivan's ornament was central to his contribution as architect and city shaper.

Early in Sullivan's career in the 1890s, when he emerged as a leading skyscraper architect of Chicago, his ornament gave scale and quality to his work. After 1900, as his career declined, it served to identify his buildings and the humane conception they encapsulated in an increasingly hostile cityscape. The brilliant pencil execution of ornament in his old age became a surrogate for the great architectural projects realized earlier. This extended essay on how Sullivan's ornament shaped the city is illuminated by stunning new color photographs.

David Van Zanten lives in Evanston, Illinois. Cervin Robinson lives in New York City.

2000 / cloth / ISBN 0-393-73038-7 / 8" X 10" / 100 Color photographs, 19 plans / 176 pages / ARCHITECTURE