Form Follows Function: Sullivan's Guaranty Building Explored

Introduction

"It is the pervading law of all things… that form ever follows function," Louis Sullivan stated in "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered." Once recognized as the "father of skyscrapers," Sullivan and his influence would leave their stamp on the next generation of architects, most notably Frank Lloyd Wright.

However, unlike the brutalism of Marcel Breuer, Sullivan's facades carried a distinct ornamentation — the Sullivan signature — distinguishing them from other modern works of architecture in the 20th century. While Sullivan acknowledged that "form followed function," he never forgot that ornamentation also has function, just as the leaves of a tree have function. This paper shows how Sullivan's architectural ornamentation of the Guaranty Building both deepens the meaning of "form ever follows function" and reminds the student of architecture of the functionality of aesthetics.

Sullivan's Concept in His Own Words

The Guaranty Building (now named the Prudential Building) is located in Buffalo, New York, and was the combined effort of Louis Sullivan and his partner Dankmar Adler. Constructed in 1894–95, the Guaranty Building resembled in many ways an earlier work of Sullivan — the Wainwright Building: "The programs of the two buildings were essentially similar, the same logic of design obtained, and with the exception of minor details, the buildings are twins."

Of course, between the two, the Guaranty Building stands out with its completely ornamental facade — but as far as function goes, the Wainwright is on par with the Guaranty.

Yet if "form follows function," as Sullivan himself conceived, one must ask how ornament contributes to function. The question immediately draws one into the realm of aesthetics — a realm on which modern artists hold varying views. Sullivan's view appears at first to be rather utilitarian, but it is not. At root it is a simple acknowledgement of the essence of all things. As Sullivan states in his "Tall Office" essay, first published in 1896, one year after the Guaranty had been completed: "It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical… of the heart, of the soul, that life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function."

Architecture for Sullivan was thus more than a rudimentary office in which no creativity or artistic expression was to be found. Architecture, like art, was bound to a certain eloquence — a kind of poetry found in all of creation, whether natural or man-made.

Yet Sullivan understood that the modern-day skyscraper was a new type of project — one the world had never before seen. Its design would have to facilitate its purpose, but its design would also have to be aesthetically pleasing, lest the balance of "all things" be lost and the law of "heart" and "soul" be broken. If the function of the "tall office building" was to provide space for offices "necessary for the transaction of business," there were other parameters the architect had to bear in mind:

the invention and perfection of the high-speed elevator makes vertical travel, that was once tedious and painful, now easy and comfortable; development of steel manufacture has shown the way to safe, rigid, economical constructions rising to a great height; continued growth of population in the great cities, consequent congestion of centers and rise in value of ground, stimulate an increase in number of stories; these successfully piled one upon another, react on ground values and so on, by action and reaction, interaction and inter-reaction. Thus has come about that form of lofty construction called the "modern office building."

Here was, essentially, the matter: the architect as artist now had to address the problem, which Sullivan put tersely thus: "Problem: How shall we impart to this sterile pile, this crude, harsh, brutal agglomeration, this stark, staring exclamation of eternal strife, the graciousness of these higher forms of sensibility and culture that rest on the lower and fiercer passions? How shall we proclaim from the dizzy height of this strange, weird, modern housetop the peaceful evangel of sentiment, of beauty, the cult of a higher life?"

Sullivan's concern was not simply with designing a facility to house offices. His concern was primarily artistic. A true artist, Sullivan realized the importance of ornamentation.

Aesthetic Necessity

"The higher life," as he called it, had to be eminent in any structure he was commissioned to design. The higher life was a life of aesthetics — of transcendental qualities — and these qualities are evident across the facade of the Guaranty Building, giving the high-rise an almost spiritual feel. The ornamentation speaks to the soul of the viewer and lifts it higher than the ceiling of the skyscraper itself, pointing toward a more transcendental home in the heavens above.

How so? Consider the ornamentation of the Guaranty. Although the Guaranty and the Wainwright are often compared, the fact is that the Guaranty has more in common with the Gothic architecture of the European past. With the Guaranty, Sullivan attempted to match function with soul: "The Guaranty followed Sullivan's new Gothic-like style. Now his piers could indeed 'seem to grow' with the 'soaring Gothic' while at the same time they transferred loads down to the foundations."

Practically speaking, the Guaranty also fulfilled its function: at its completion just before the turn of the century, it stood at thirteen stories — a "152-foot high skyscraper… (with) room for some 200 offices on its upper floors with retail spaces on its first and second; its 125,000 square feet were served by four passenger elevators."

Yet Sullivan did not let function depress form, as Breuer would have done. Sullivan's Guaranty retains an elegance and character that elevates the skyscraper to a new class — a dignified class. Like his other famous works, this one showcased "simple vertical emphasis externally, rich but appropriate decorative detail, and public-space interiors filled with fine ornament."

The ornament covering the facade of the Guaranty does tell us something about the expression Sullivan coined — that "form ever follows function." As Joseph Korom notes, "the steel framework of the Guaranty Building was seen as a great trellis from which to hang, to drape, a host of geometric and foliate design motifs in terra-cotta."

Conclusion

Sullivan announced at the end of the 19th century that "form ever follows function" — but that did not imply that form had to be as mechanical as function. In fact, it meant for Sullivan quite the opposite. The Guaranty Building is a perfect example of how he saw architecture as an art: its purpose was to provide the space necessary for offices and retailers, but also to make the structure as aesthetically appealing to the human spirit as possible. In Sullivan's eyes, form had function — and that function was to ornament.

Bibliography

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Korom, Joseph. The American Skyscraper, 1850–1940: A Celebration of Height. Boston: Branden Books, 2008.

Morrison, Hugh. Louis Sullivan, Prophet of Modern Architecture. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.

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Secrest, Meryle. Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Sullivan, Louis. "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered." Lippincott's Magazine, 1896.

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