Western Association of Architects

Last updated

The Western Association of Architects (WAA) was an American professional body founded in Chicago in 1884 separately from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) by John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Dankmar Adler, and Louis Sullivan, because they felt slighted by East Coast architects of the AIA. [1] "Members consisted of architects from the Midwest and the South with chapters forming in many states. The WAA was the first architectural organization to petition for licensure of architects. Many architects were members of both WAA and AIA...." [2] The WAA merged with the AIA in 1889.

List of members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Burnham</span> American architect and urban designer (1846– 1912)

Daniel Hudson Burnham was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the Beaux-Arts movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ever produced."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Sullivan</span> American architect

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 the idea was theorised by Viollet le Duc who considered that structure and function in architecture should be the sole determinants of form. In 1944, Sullivan was the second architect to posthumously receive the AIA Gold Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dankmar Adler</span> American architect

Dankmar Adler was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential skyscrapers that boldly addressed their steel skeleton through their exterior design: the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri (1891), the Chicago Stock Exchange Building (1894), and the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York (1896).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago school (architecture)</span> American architectural style

The Chicago School refers to two architectural styles derived from the architecture of Chicago. In the history of architecture, the first Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago in the late 19th, and at the turn of the 20th century. They were among the first to promote the new technologies of steel-frame construction in commercial buildings, and developed a spatial aesthetic which co-evolved with, and then came to influence, parallel developments in European Modernism. Much of its early work is also known as Commercial Style.

The year 1891 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Chicago</span> Regional architecture

The buildings and architecture of Chicago reflect the city's history and multicultural heritage, featuring prominent buildings in a variety of styles. Most structures downtown were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wellborn Root</span> American architect

John Wellborn Root was an American architect who was based in Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style. Two of his buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks ; others have been designated Chicago landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1958, he was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal.

George Grant Elmslie was an American Prairie School architect whose works are is mostly found in the Midwestern United States. He worked with Louis Sullivan and later with William Gray Purcell as a partner in the firm Purcell & Elmslie.

Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prudential (Guaranty) Building</span> Early skyscraper in Buffalo, New York

The Guaranty Building, formerly called the Prudential Building, is an early skyscraper in Buffalo, New York. It was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and completed in 1896. The building has been declared a National Historic Landmark and is located within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rookery Building</span> Building in Chicago

The Rookery Building is a historic office building located at 209 South LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop. Completed by architects Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings, and was once the location of their offices. The building is 181 feet (55 m) in height, twelve stories tall, and is considered the oldest standing high-rise in Chicago. It has a unique construction style featuring exterior load-bearing walls and an interior steel frame, providing a transition between accepted and new building techniques. The lobby was remodeled in 1905 by Frank Lloyd Wright. From 1989 to 1992, the lobby was restored to Wright's design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnham and Root</span> Architecture firm

Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root.

John Mills Van Osdel was an American architect who is considered the first Chicago architect. He is considered a peer of the most prominent architects in the history of Chicago. He has also done significant work throughout Illinois and the Midwest, although much of it no longer exists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Beth El (Detroit)</span> Reform synagogue in Michigan, United States

Temple Beth El is a Reform synagogue located at in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, in the United States. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan. Temple Beth El was a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism in 1873, and hosted the meeting in 1889 during which the Central Conference of American Rabbis was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Building</span> United States historic place

The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Building, also known as the Northern Implement Company and the American Trio Building, is a warehouse building in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. PPG Industries of Pittsburgh constructed the structure.

AIA Columbus is a chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Founded in 1913, it is one of the largest urban components of the American Institute of Architects in the Midwestern United States, with members throughout Central and Southeastern Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaSalle Towers Apartments</span>

LaSalle Towers Apartments is a high-rise apartment complex in the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago. The building is located at 1211 North LaSalle Street, which is the corner of LaSalle and Division Street.

Adler & Sullivan was an architectural firm founded by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in Chicago. Among its projects was the multi-purpose Auditorium Building in Chicago and the Wainwright Building skyscraper in St Louis. In 1883 Louis Sullivan was added to Adler's architectural firm, creating the Adler & Sullivan partnership. According to Architect Ward Miller:

Adler & Sullivan are most associated with being an innovative and progressive architectural practice, forwarding the idea of an American style and expressing this in a truly modern format. Their work was widely published and at the forefront of building construction. Their buildings and especially their multipurpose structures. .. were unequaled. Furthermore, the expression of a tall building, its structure with a definite base, middle section or shaft and top or cornice was a new approach for the high building design. These types of tall structures developed into a format.. .. Even today, the vertical expression of a building employs these design principals.

<i>Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan</i> 2006 American film

Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan is a 2006 documentary film by Manfred Kirchheimer that attempts to tell the story of how Louis Sullivan designed skyscrapers. The film begins by placing the viewer in late 19th century Chicago just after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The film takes the viewer through the early development of skyscrapers with archival photos, music and narration. It ends by focusing on the decline of Louis Sullivan. The documentary met with mixed reviews that generally liked the artistry of the documentary but found the storytelling lacking.

John Vinci is a Chicago-based American architect who works on architectural preservation of historic buildings in addition to new designs.

References

  1. New York Times "The Western Architects" November 14, 1884
  2. Papers of the Western Association of Architects: 1884-1889