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THE CHICAGO SCHOOL:
Architecture as Metaphor

By WALTER BROWN
RECENTLY PUBLISHED by the Uni-
versity "of Chicago Press, "The Chi-
cago School of Architecture" by Carl W.
Condit represents the finest and most
scholarly work on the great burst of
creative energy that occurred in Chicago
at the turn of the century. There have
been many works published on the two
great masters, Frank Lloyd Wright and
Louis Sullivan, but no one before Condit
has put together in one volume the inter-
relationship of all the people involved in
the movement to the depth and detail
that he has done. The book is a revised
ind much expanded version of Condit's
earlier "The Rise of the Skyscraper"
published by the same press in 1952. This
earlier book was a much awaited work;
there was a reawakening to the great
achievements of America's early archi-
tects. Since then, numerous people have
studied the architects of that age and
many insights have been gained into the
implications of their thought. "The Chi-
cago School of Architecture" is an ex-
cellent follow through to the earlier
work, bringing in many of the new dis-
coveries made about the work of the
period.
While Condit discusses in some detail
the technical and social problems faced
by the early builders, his language is not
a technical one nor beyond the reach of
the layman. His book is easily compre-
hended by anyone interested in the art of
architecture. He explains the individual
buildings produced by the various archi-
tects in the school and brings out their
technical problems and solutions in great
detail. His text is illustrated by almost
two hundred excellent photographs which
ietail Condit's explanations. The inclu-
sion of these photographs makes the book
extremely valuable to both the student
and professional in understanding the
levelopment of American culture.
Condit's basic approach in trying to
understand the architectural events of
the last three decades of the nineteenth
century is that of viewing the growth of
the new architectural idea as a develop-
ment in structural and technical thought.
He very elegantly notes the basic prob-
lems the new commercial age posed and
explains how the architects of the period
attacked them. This approach works ex-

tremely well in dealing with those archi-
tects who were predominantly concerned
with the expression of the new archi-
tectural functions and new technical
achievements-William LaBaron Jenney
and the firms of Holabind and Roche
and Burnham and Root-but falls short
when Condit attempts to deal with Louis
Sullivan.
A T THE BEGINNING of the book, Con-
dit presents, in a very clear and direct
manner, a brief history of Chicago in the
late 1800's and details the rise of a new
urban commercialism. This commercial
history complements the story of how
the architects reacted to new demands
and new materials to produce an archi-
tecture expressive of its age. An under-
standing of the Chicago urban history
is certainly basic to an understanding
of the city's architectural developments.
In the year 1850, Chicago was a small
town of small cabins and 30,000 people
located in a swamp where a sluggish
stream flowed into Lake Michigan. By
1870, it had grown to become the focal
point of commerce in the United States.
As more and more settlers moved west,
the prairies of the Mississippi Valley be-
gan to produce agricultural goods in
great quantity. Chicago became the
center for distribution of these goods
throughout the country. Grain was
stored, financed and milled; meat was
slaughtered and distributed. Chicago, the
seat of these activities, saw them undergo
an astronomical growth.
Chicago industry experienced a simi-
lar expansion. In 1869, the North Indiana
Railroad merged with eight other lines to
operate a direct service from Chicago
to Buffalo and the railroad and canal
systems of the East. By 1871, Chicago
was the hub of the railroad system of this
country. And railroads and waterways
brought steel, coal and lumber concerns
to the city.
Condit qualifies the story:
But the bare statistics serve only
as a mathematical measure of quan-
tity. The dynamic quality of the
city's life had no parallel. The fervor
and devotion and energy that went
into the production of agricultural
and industrial wealth would have
done credit to the most enthusiastic
crusader. The discipline would have

broken a martyr. Chicagoans were
born into the world to take no rest
themselves and to give none to oth-
ers,' as Thucydides said to Athen-
eans ... The internal pressures knew
no bounds once the riches of an un-
developed continent were opened to
exploitation.
The constructions which resulted from
this commercial dynamism were basically
brick with wood floors and roofs sup-
ported by timber or cast iron columns.
Houses were all of wood frame construc-
tion. Because of the rapid growth and
the demand for new kinds of architec-
ture facilities, very few city laws to regu-
late construction were made.
The lack of safety precautions led to
the historic conflagration on the night of
October 8, 1871. A small fire started in a
barn on DeKoven Street soon spread
destruction over the entire city. In about
forty-eight hours, the flames destroyed
$192,000,000 worth of property out of a
total evaluation of $575,000,000-approxi-
mately one hundred thousand people
were rendered homeless.
Immediately after the fire the recon-
struction began and, except for the de-
pression of 1873-74, proceeded on the
same dynamic level as the commercial
development before it. In the first year
following the fire, 598 permanent build-
ings were erected. During the seven years
from 1872 to 1879, a total of about 10,200
permits for construction were issued. It
was this vast building program that gave
the impetus for the development of the
new architectural form that evolved.
Sullivan came to Chicago in 1873 and
saw man transform the world.
CONDIT FINDS the problem of recon-
struction best stated by Albert Bush-
Brown who sums it up:
Essentially the problem had two
parts; there was the group of techni-
cal problems: how to utilize iron so
that the tall buildings would be least
heavy, how to anchor it in Chicago's
mud, and how to give it the lights,
air, heat, and mechanical circulation
its occupants required; second, there
were the aesthetic problems: how
to express the iron structure in the
exterior fireproof cladding, and how
to unify the composition by using
proportions, scale, rhythms, and or-
ment that were appropriate to its
size and functions.
Condit clearly shows how these two
problems were dealt with and solved by
the architects of the time. William La-
Baron Jenney concerned himself with the
development of the structural steel frame,
and the firms of Holabind and Roche and
Burnham and Root clarified what Jen-
ney had begun and developed the formal
and aesthetic qualities of the buildings.
They sought to express the commercial
and architectural realities of the time,
that is, they wanted buildings to be direct
expressions of the forces that produced
them. The commercial age demanded
economy, therefore, they strove to make
its buildings clean and simple, depending
as little as possible on unfunctional ad-
ditions to make a building work aes-
thetically. They were building with cast
iron and steel frames and sought to ex-
press this fact, not cover the structure
with a heavy material to make it look
like something it was not. They saw
"architectural truth" in the material and
structural elements of a building and
sought to express this truth.
Sullivan did not see architecture in
terms of these specific manifestations of
problems and solutions caused by the
new commercial age. He was not con-
cerned with a direct expression of the
new technical achievements and societal
institutions, but rather chose to use all
of the technical achievements to express
a generalized notion of growth and de-
velopment comprehensible in its most
universal terms. He was interested in the
internal dynamics of change and man's
part in the process. He saw man as a

creature with powers equal to the forces
of nature and demanded that he exert
his will to act in that direction to the
fullest of his being.
Condit fails to recognize -the fact that
Sullivan's specific concern was not the
articulation of the material reality of a
building, but rather the expression of
the meaning of growth. While the other
architects in the school tried to express
the contrasting horizontal and vertical
structural elements in a building, Sulli-
van expressed how a tall building grew
tall and the meaning of vertical growth.
For this purpose he used many strong
vertical elements which appear to have
a structural function in his buildings-
but in reality do not. Condit does not
condemn Sullivan for not strictly ad-
hering to structural truth, but neither
does he clearly explain what Sullivan
was attempting to do.
SULLIVAN ARTICULATED his aesthet-
ics in his :wok "A System of Archi-
tectural Ornament" published in 1924.
In it he explains his concern with the
process of efflorescence into form and
sees that growth process as a metaphor
that deals with the way the universe un-
folds itself: in the germ seed of a plant
was the force that directed the growth
of the germ into the mature plant, fully
manifesting its form.

THE GUTHRIE THEATRE:

A Repertory Success in in

By H. G. McNALLY
IN THE past few years, a new kind of
theatre has made its importance felt
on the American theatre scene. Hereto-
fore, a theatre lover outside the New York
area either had to wait until the local
theatre guild brought a recent Broadway
comedy on tour through the town, or he
would have to journey to the "Great
White Way" of Broadway to enjoy pro-
fessional theatre. Now, with theatres of
national significance firmly establishing
themselves in such non-Broadway locales
as Ann Arbor, Washington, D. C., San
Francisco, Houston, and many others,
top-flight professional theatre of high
artistic caliber is available in many re-
gions.
The Minnesota Theatre Company at
the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minnea-
olis is a good example of this up-to-
date, modern trend of theatre.
Its producers, Oliver Rea and Peter
Zeisler, managing directors of the Min-
nesota Theatre Company, have begun
their third year in the Twin City area
and have made firm and popular be-
.innings toward making this theatre an
integral part of the region's artistic and
spiritual resources.
O PENING ITS DOORS for the first
time on May 7, 1963, the Minnesota
Company, under the artistic direction of
Sir Tyrone Guthrie, produced "Hamlet,"
MVIoliere's "The Miser," "The Three
Sisters" by Chekhov and Miller's "Death
of a Salesman." These shows, produced
in repertory, allowed a theatre buff
looking for the maximum in entertain-
ment to see four shows on four succes-
sive nights, with a company of players
playing different roles in usually three
out of the four plays. (For example, in
the opening season, Hume Cronyn played
the title role of Harpagon in "The Miser,"
Dr. Tchebutykin in "The Three Sisters,"
and Willy Loman in "Death of a Sales-
man.")
And the Twin City-Minnesota area has
responded enthusiastically to the idea:
An all-out building fund campaign con-
ducted byrbusiness, educational and civic
leaders resulted in contributions of
$2,500,000 from the community. Over
21,000 season tickets were sold in ad-
vance of the first season, and during
1963, the 159 performances played to
slightly more than 77 per cent of capac-
ity, attracting a total audience of
193,344, including 9412 for special stu-
dent matinees.
The second season, offering "Henry
V," Shaw's "St. Joan," Tennessee Wil-
liams' "The Glass Menagerie" and Ben
Jonson's "Volpone," was extended an ad-
ditional two weeks, making a total of 27
weeks of plays during 1964.
This season offers "Richard III,"
Congreve's "The Way of the World,"
Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," "The
Caucasian Chalk Circle" by Bertolt
Brecht and a return of "The Miser" from
the 1963 season.
The Minnesota Theatre Company has
thus far succeeded in attracting nation-
wide attention--and for good reason.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT of the idea of
regional repertory theatre as per-
formed by the Minnesota Theatre Com-
pany has much to do with it. Seventy per
cent of the audience of 193,000 the first
year came from within a 100-mile radius
of the Twin Cities, and the remainder
came from 46 of 50 states, six provinces
of Canada and foreign countries includ-
ing England, Scotland, Pakistan, Poland,
Austria, Japan, Australia, Mexico and
Trinidad. Continued support, accompany-
ing the initial theatre building fund
drive, seems to indicate that the people
in Twin Cities want this kind of theatre.
Fundamental to the community desire
for repertory theatre is the basic philoso-
phy of the organization which might best
be summed up in the words of Oliver
Rea: "My belief and Dr. Guthrie's (is)
that theatre throughout the ages, as well
as today, cannot contribute vitally to our
culture unless it be a permanent com-
pany, striking roots deep within a com-
munity, as opposed to the hit-or-miss
system of Broadway plays which amounts
to no more than a hill of beans when
compared with the theatrical companies
of Shakespeare's times, the Comedie
Francaise and more recently the Old Vic
in London and Dr. Guthrie's own theatre
at Stratford, Ontario."
Managing Directors Rea and Zeisler
and Artistict Director Guthrie are com-
mitted to an artistic policy of perform-
ing the classics-those plays recognized
to be of enduring worth by succeeding
generations of theatre patrons and
critics.
Why the classics rather than new
plays? Guthrie reasons this way: "On
the whole, new plays do not get a bad
deal in American theatre. But every year,
hardly any professional production of
the classics is offered; and on the rare
occasions when a classic is to be seen on
Broadway, it is more often than not pre-
sented by a company imported from
Europe. . . . (Classics should be seen)
... because they are what the best minds
in previous generations have united to
admire. Only through the classics can
intelligent standards of criticism be
established."
SEVERAL PROBLEMS are inherent in
a classic repertory system. Most
American actors get very little oppor-
tunity to perform in this type of theatre.
Their experience with Shakespeare, Mo-
liere and Chekhov is limited to the in-
frequency with which these authors are
performed in America. Although the Min-
nesota Theatre Company does not set
itself up as a developer of young talent,
it currently offers a program'for gradu-
ates from the drama department of the
University of Minnesota to apprentice
with the organization for a year under
the McKnight fellowships. A second
problem is that of keeping the same com-
pany of actors together for a period of
years to develop a sense of continuity and
to produce an "ensemble" company-one
that is accustomed to working together
in the interpretation of a play.
To date, the Minnesota Theatre Com-
pany has dealt with these problems with

some degree of success. A majority of the
original company for the 1963 season re-
turned for the second year and signed
for the 1965 run. George Grizzard, who
played Hamlet the first year, was Mosca
in "Volpone" and performed the title role
in Henry V" in 1964. Hume Cronyn and
Jessica Tandy, who played important
parts in the opening season, left the sec-
ond year but returned for the 1965 sea-
son. Under a system of this sort, it is
possible to return '.'The Miser" after it
has been off the boards for a year, with
many of the actors recast in their for-
mer roles. And it provides the community
with an opportunity to observe a com-
pany perform and grow over a period of
years.
CERTAINLY A STRONG contributory
factor in the success of the operation
to date is the physical plant of the Ty-
rone Guthrie Theatre itself. Designed by
Ralph Rapson, head of the department of
architecture at the University of Minne-
sota, the formal architectural qualities of
the auditorium are subordinated to the
direct problems of theatrical production.
The twentieth century has been charac-
terized, in regard to theatre architecture,
by an exploratory approach into a closer
collaboration between the theatre direc-
tor and architect, of stage technicians
and experts in lighting and acoustics.
Generally the trend has been away from
the proscenium stage which separates
the audience from the performers. The
antithesis is the arena stage which sur-
rounds the performers on all four sides
by theatre-goers. The Guthrie Theatre
exemplifies a third concept of stage de-
sign, harking back to Greek and Roman
theatre: the "thrust" or open stage pro-
jecting into the audience which partially
surrounds it.
At the Guthrie Theatre, the 1437-seat
audience surrounds the projecting stage
in an arc of 200 degrees. Though split
partially into an orchestra and balcony,
the design is such that no seat is more
than 15 rows or 52 feet from the center
of the stage. The design preserves a
sense of intimacy between the people on
the stage and those in the audience. Ac-
tors use sub-surface ramps and the aisles
of the theatre as entrances, and it is not
unusual to find an actor two feet away
from a member of the audience. Thus
the scene of action reaches to the back

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All of Sullivan's work expresses this
idea of efflorescence into form; it clearly
differentiates him from the rest of the
Chicago school.
One cannot understand Sullivan in the
terms that Condit sets up for other ar-
chitects, because Sullivan did not share
their concern for the expression of struc-
tural reality. In failing to make this dis-
tinction, Condit fails to present a clear
picture of Louis Sullivan.
Condit's orientation is that of the art
historian. Throughout the book, he dis-
cusses the problem of trying to preserve
the great examples of American culture.
He points out the need for Americans to
become aware of the great works of art
that have been produced and to develop
the critical judgment that would recog-
nize their worth over the commercial
interests which would destroy them. His
work is a wonderful contribution to this
end.

Guaranty Building facade: 'efflorescence into form'

Page Four

THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 1965