“… society should be fertile ground to grow and express the powers of the ego and spirit of a free people and not turn them into subjects…Give people who inhabit these spaces the Intellectual freedom to understand where they are going and where they have been…architecture must elicit an emotional response. People want beauty and meaning in their lives…” Louis Sullivan….Thank you Robert’s Architecture for re-presenting these lovely thoughts.
Our world today is limiting our freedom of movement and choice. We need to push back and break free from government oppression and the media who create fear. Take back our internal power.
Well done! I feel like I am back in freshman year of architecture class when all was possible, and the world was an oyster to be opened. Then the conclusion the Sullivan dies alone in a hotel room. Reminds me of Spain’s Antonio Gaudi…..
Awesome video. I couldn’t agree more. My father was an architect, stuck doing boring repetitive skyscraper curtain walls of glass and aluminum. I’d ask him why we have the best materials science in human history, but don’t use it to make beautiful buildings? He thought no one wanted to pay for it anymore. Which is crazy, because most of Sullivan’s stuff was cast in molds.
hello, this is an architecture student from Egypt. you've had me spend hours on a single video of yours There is so much to learn and take note of the way you pick and layout your topics is spot on, am somewhere between (NOW I SEE IT!) or (I didn't know that I needed to know this) your stories are so addictive, feels like am in a movie for a next level director I feel so special finding this channel as if it makes me think and conceptualize ideas ahead of my classmates and teaching assistants. but, on the other hand, you deserve much more exposure I hope you keep doing this I am grateful for it
I've gained a wealth of knowledge from this channel.😊 It's fascinating to learn about the enduring legacies of iconic American architects such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Richard Neutra. Thank you for the valuable insights!
The bank building in Grinnel, Iowa, on I-80 East of Des Moines, is still there and worth the trip if you are in the area. The Chamber of Commerce owns it now.
WHOiii! Thank you for this! Your analysis is spot on. And I would add that we are still fighting all the war that killed Sullivan and his work. At least 3-Emotion, Morality and Spirituality-of the 5 essential attributes that Sullivan declared essential for imagination, creativity and enlightenment to win the culture war against imitation, stagnation and oppression are not appreciated let alone taught in the wrongheaded stranglehold that STEM (science, technology, engineering, math has on the American imagination; unlike Sullivan who practiced the Fine and Applied Arts of STEAM. A lot of polarized problems in the country could be solved by infusing the visual and performing arts into public education.
I'm surprised you haven't contrasted Sullivan's ideas on ornamentation, with the general trends in Art Nouveau and Arc Deco, as well as the subsequent rejection exemplified in Loos' "Ornament and Crime" in the context of the nascent De Stijl and Bauhaus movements.
Good points! I was trying to focus on American architecture and not veer off topic. I definitely could have talked about the Loos and the Bauhaus and the rejection of ornamentation. That is how it is presented in the history books, but I wanted to show Sullivan's perspective.
I've long loved the quote "Form follows Function", but I somehow missed its origin. I wonder how the world would be different today if the States (in the late 19th century) had understood and valued Sullivan's work. We are affected by our environment. If we'd had beautiful buildings that echoed the American dream - would we still value the values that enabled it? The copying of the Grecian elements was appropriate for the new moneymen of the time. What better way to show you're sophisticated than to copy and paste classical elements (that once had a function) to use them as functionless decorations that aren't even harmonious? Fast forward to the present - meaningless facades are dime a dozen in every creative field.
"Form follows function", while it may have been voiced by Sullivan et al, was not a concept they came up with, except maybe rediscovered. It is a very old idea in Europe and there are notorious examples of it in philosophy and biology, such as in Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's 18th century theory of evolution.
Thanks for this dive in american architecture. And what a tragic story ! Maybe his legacy mainly consisted of having hatched the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright..
Superb videos. Thank you. Curious to know if you have any take on the architect Paolo Soleri and his experiment - Arcosanti. As a design school student then, I heard him live at a lecture he gave in the 1970s on his visit to India and to our campus. On my maiden visit to the US in 2000 I was surprised that no one, I met, had even heard of him. Thank you again for your superb videos Mr Roberts
Thanks! When I was in architecture school one of my fellow students went to Arcosanti. I think part of the curriculum was to design and build a structure there. I think the school shut down in the 2000s when Soleri died? I think it is still around, but not an architecture school, just a place to take a few classes. Perhaps not well known, Soleri had a small but dedicated following of students.
architecture must alternate between the Franks and the Lous. Frank Furness Louis Sullivan Frank Lloyd Wright Louis Kahn We're waiting on hte next Frank
