The Tall Office Building- Guaranty Building

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Famously known as “the father of the skyscraper,” Louis Sullivan’s rational theory and practice for constructing a tall building is relevant to the modern world. He proposed that Ornamentation and futuristic concept must be present in the construction of a tall building. The Prudential Building illustrates Sullivan’s concepts and theory of the tall office building. In his essay “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered,” Sullivan questioned; “what is the chief characteristic of a tall building?” he answered “it must be tall, every inch of it tall. The force and power must be in it; the glory of pride and exaltation must be in it” (206). Sullivan clearly illustrated this in The Prudential Building; it involved a simple geometric form decorated with ornamentation based on an organic symbolism. (See Image 1) The building’s intricate terra cotta ornamentation, for example, accentuates its horizontal structure. This gives the building the look and feel of a stone but the material is comparatively lightweight and inexpensive. Since Sullivan was very much interested in the safety of a building, he chose terra cotta over several building material, because of its versatility and durability. Sullivan designed the entire building with terra cotta because it can be transformed into a variety of shapes. (See Image 2) The Piers between the windows form powerful vertical lines that draw the eye upward to the dominant cornice; this demonstrates what he called “the aesthetic value of the tall office building.” Sullivan constructed the entire building using steel frame which, like terra cotta, is an excellent fireproof material. Gazing at the topmost part of the building, we can identify that Sullivan’s inspiration for the buildings design came from flowers, seedpods and the spreading of tree branches. These characteristics fit in his idea of

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