Louis Henry Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. Along with Wright and Henry Hobson Richardson, Sullivan is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture". The phrase "form follows function" is attributed to him, although he credited the concept to ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. In 1944, Sullivan was the second architect to posthumously receive the AIA Gold Medal.
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque characteristics. Richardson first used elements of the style in his Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo, New York, designed in 1870. Multiple architects followed in this style in the late 19th century; Richardsonian Romanesque later influenced modern styles of architecture as well.
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.
The National Farmers' Bank of Owatonna, Minnesota, United States, is a historic bank building designed by Louis Sullivan, with decorative elements by George Elmslie. It was built in 1908, and was the first of Sullivan's "jewel box" bank designs. The building is clad in red brick with green terra cotta bands, and features two large arches on its street-facing facades. Single-story wings, originally housing bank offices, extend along each side. Internal elements include two stained-glass windows designed by Louis J. Millet, a mural by Oskar Gross, and four immense cast iron electroliers designed by Elmslie and cast by Winslow Brothers Company.
Purcell & Elmslie (P&E) was the most widely know iteration of a progressive American architectural practice. P&E was the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School, after Frank Lloyd Wright. The firm in all iterations was active from 1907 to 1921, with their most famous work being done between 1913 and 1921.
The Peoples Savings Bank in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was designed by Louis Sullivan. It was the second of a number of small "jewel box" banks in midwest towns designed by Sullivan during 1907 to 1919. It was built in 1911, and it was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2014 it was included as a contributing property in the West Side Third Avenue SW Commercial Historic District.
The Merchants' National Bank (1914) building is a historic commercial building located in Grinnell, Iowa. It is one of a series of small banks designed by Louis Sullivan in the Midwest between 1909 and 1919. All of the banks are built of brick and for this structure he employed various shades of brick, ranging in color from blue-black to golden brown, giving it an overall reddish brown appearance. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture. In 1991 it was listed as a contributing property in the Grinnell Historic Commercial District.
The Home Building Association Bank is a historic building located at 1 North Third Street in Newark, Ohio, and was designed by noted Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. It is one of eight banks designed by Sullivan. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Van Allen Building, also known as Van Allen and Company Department Store, is a historic commercial building at Fifth Avenue and South Second Street in Clinton, Iowa. The four-story building was designed by Louis Sullivan and commissioned by John Delbert Van Allen. Constructed 1912–1914 as a department store, it now has upper floor apartments with ground floor commercial space. The exterior has brick spandrels and piers over the structural steel skeletal frame. Terra cotta is used for horizontal accent banding and for three slender, vertical applied mullion medallions on the front facade running through three stories, from ornate corbels at the second-floor level to huge outbursts of vivid green terra cotta foliage in the attic. There is a very slight cornice. Black marble facing is used around the glass show windows on the first floor. The walls are made of long thin bricks in a burnt gray color with a tinge of purple. Above the ground floor all the windows are framed by a light gray terra cotta. The tile panels in Dutch blue and white pay tribute to Mr. Van Allen's Dutch heritage of which he was quite proud.. The Van Allen Building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture.
George Washington Maher was an American architect during the first quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture with the Arts & Crafts-style.
The People's Federal Savings and Loan Association is a historic bank building at 101 East Court Street in Sidney, Ohio, designed by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. It was designed and built in 1917 for use by Peoples Federal Savings and Loan Association, which still operates out of it. It is one of a handful of banks designed by Sullivan between 1908 and 1919 for small communities in the central United States. The building is a National Historic Landmark.
The First National Bank of Mankato, also known as the Old First National Bank of Mankato and located at 229 South Front Street in Mankato, Minnesota, United States, is a fine example of Prairie School architecture in a commercial building, relating rural life to the development of downtown Mankato as a regional center of commerce and finance. The recently restored exterior is now part of the Mankato Civic Center, the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
The Farmers and Merchants Union Bank is a historic commercial building at 159 West James Street in Columbus, Wisconsin. Built in 1919, it is the last of eight "jewel box" bank buildings designed by Louis Sullivan, and the next to last to be constructed. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture.
Merchants National Bank is a bank building in Winona, Minnesota, United States, designed in the Prairie School architectural style. It was built in 1912 and features elaborate terracotta and stained-glass ornamentation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for having state-level significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated for being the "largest and probably best example" of the 18 Midwestern banks designed by Purcell, Feick & Elmslie, a significant influence on early-20th-century American architecture. It is also a contributing property to the Winona Commercial Historic District.
The Purdue State Bank Building is a historic structure in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, designed by American architect and Frank Lloyd Wright's mentor Louis Sullivan. Completed in 1914, the bank is the smallest and least expensive of Sullivan's "Jewel Boxes", a series of Midwestern banks designed in the modern style at the end of his career. Built on a tiny, trapezoidal lot between two streets, the structure is less ornamental than most of the architect's other work, including only a few terra cotta panels. The building cost $14,600 to be constructed, of which only about 10% was paid to Sullivan, barely covering his expenses. A local paper at the time referred to Sullivan as "one of the most noted bank architects in the United States".
Democrat Building is a historic building located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District. The historic newspaper building is now an apartment building known as The Democrat Lofts.
The Hartington City Hall and Auditorium, also known as the Hartington Municipal Building, is a city-owned, brick-clad, 2-story center in Hartington, Nebraska. It was designed between 1921 and 1923 in the Prairie School style by architect William L. Steele (1875–1949).
Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank, also known as Union Savings Bank and First Trust and Savings Bank, is an historic building located in Grand Mound, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The First Federal Savings and Loan Association Building is a historic building located in Downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District.
Johnson County Savings Bank, also known as Iowa State Bank, is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1912, it is a six-story, brick structure that rises to a height of 72.45 feet (22.08 m). The design of the structure shows the influence of the Chicago Commercial style of architecture and that of architect Louis Sullivan. These influences are found in the building's arrangement with a base, shaft, and capital. The decorative elements executed in stone and terra cotta show the influence of Neoclassical architecture. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. In 2021, it was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.
