Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building
Chicago, Illinios, U.S. Louis Sullivan (architect). 1899-1903 C.E. Iron, steel, glass, and terra cotta
Chicago, Illinios, U.S. Louis Sullivan (architect). 1899-1903 C.E. Iron, steel, glass, and terra cotta
With its elaborate decorative program and attention paid to the functional requirements of retail architecture, Sullivan's design was a remarkably successful display for the department store's products, even if it diverged from the wholly vertical effect of his earlier skyscrapers.
Architect: Louis Sullivan
Date: 1899 and 1903-04
Location: Chicago
Medium: Steel frame, terra-cotta exterior, cast-iron entryway
Movement: Art Nouveau
Form/Content:
- Steel-frame skyscraper
- Tripartite
- decorative, open, easily-accessible ground level and first floor
- infinite number of stories for offices
- all should look the same because they serve the same function
- distinct attic story and cornice line
- to cap/mark off vertical endpoint and set it apart from other buildings in the cityscape
- tweaks the tripartite form to serve a different purpose
- highlights the horizontal ground floor space rather than the usual vertical trajectory of the middle section
- gives ground floor larger windows to emphasize the shopping space
- welcoming, aesthetically pleasing, decorative
- Art Nouveau decorative program
- cast-iron ornamentation covers the corner entryway and ground level exterior
- floral, elaborate, intricate
- industrial material reflects organic forms (characteristic of art nouveau)
Function:
- Department store
- rather than emphasizing the upward, vertical lines to accentuate the height of the skyscraper (as would usually be done), Sullivan highlights the ground-floor level entryway to draw shoppers into the store
- Decorative program also served to distinguish the building from the others around it, as well as attract shoppers
Context:
- Divergence from traditional vertical effect of the ideal skyscraper (even his own earlier skyscrapers) in chicago (birthplace of the skyscraper)
- form follows function
- Art Nouveau
- industrial materials (Chicago boasts: steel manufacturing, train hub) reflect organic forms (aesthetic floral intricacies)
