CHAPTER 4AMERICAN NEOCLASSICISM
AND THE EMERGENCE OF
THE SKYSCRAPER ( 1870 – 1920 )
One might question why this small group of Americans deserves their own chapter. As late-
nineteenth century architects, they approached modern architecture with less fervor than their
European counterparts. Henry Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Richard Morris Hunt, and
Stanford White practiced with one foot in the past. Their high Victorian gothic and Renaissance
revival allusions, use of materials and connection to the development of tall buildings led them ten-
tatively toward the modern.
Although Sullivan believed that buildings needed to express their function, he never felt unified
with the dedicated revolutions of Adolf Loos or Le Corbusier in Europe. Considered innovative in
the design of tall buildings, Sullivan could not refrain from the decorative. He incorporated steel
framing but lacked a conceptual expression of the new notion of the skyscraper. America’s greatest
contribution to the inception of modern architecture was the steel structural system. The historians
Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, in their book The International Style, disappointingly
describe these architects as the ‘half moderns’ ( 1996 ). Unable to fully identify with the neoclassical
architects of France, yet incapable of embracing a consistent belief in a modernist ideal, they reside in
a moment of transition, at the cusp of a new era.
The sketches of these architects illustrate their unique position and affinity to past styles. Much of
their visual expression reflects their education in the beaux-arts tradition. Remarkably poignant, these
sketches typify their concerns and beliefs, reflecting the natural world in the case of Louis Sullivan
and the stark minimalist essence of the gothic revival with Richardson. Hugh Ferriss’ sketches boldly
demonstrate the emotion of the evolving social and political period, heralding the monumentality of
the ‘new city’ of tall buildings, while romanticizing the solidity of masonry construction. A brief
summary of American architecture at the close of the nineteenth century and the emergence of the
skyscraper will set the stage for a discussion of these architect’s sketches.
For twenty years following the Civil War, architecture in the United States was mainly classical
and gothic. During this period, the country was undergoing an enthusiastic building program
including many governmental projects. Described as the second empire baroque, these monumental
buildings had strong horizontal layering, mansard roofs and classical elements (Roth, 1979 ).
The great fire in Chicago in 1871 offered a tremendous opportunity. Burning 1 , 688 acres of
wooden buildings, the need to rebuild was pressing (Douglas, 1996 ; Charernbhak, 1981 ). The 1880 s
were characterized by industrial and technological expansion. Industry was standardizing track
gauge, huge corporations were providing electricity, the oil company of John D. Rockefeller was
formed, and the emergence of the steel industry provided the materials to construct tall buildings.
The small and bounded business district of Chicago produced the commercial building as a type,
which quickly spread to New York City. These tall buildings satisfied the need for office space and
efficiency in rapidly expanding cities. Contemporary construction of a steel frame clad with a cur-
tain wall, the development of elevators and fireproofing, and advancements in environmental con-
trol systems, set the stage for the birth of the skyscraper (Goldberger, 1982 ; Huxtable, 1982 ).H5719-Ch04.qxd 7/15/05 3:34 PM Page 97