Louise Blanchard Bethune
Louise Blanchard Bethune

Author: Johanna Hays

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-02-07

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0786476761

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Louise Blanchard Bethune, the subject of this biography, was America's first female professional architect. She belonged to the influential group of pioneer architects--Daniel Burnham, John Root and Louis Sullivan--who supported her in becoming a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In the booming industrial city of Buffalo, she preceded Frank Lloyd Wright and Alfred Kahn in factory design and was the key designer of the modern urban public school building, developing standards still used today. During her career (1881-1905) Bethune was consistently one of the most successful architects practicing in Buffalo and the driving force behind New York State's professional organizations for architects. Beyond setting standards for public schools, she was the go-to architect for factories, warehouses, police stations, a Nikola Tesla power transfer station, and the largest luxury hotel of the early 1900s. Bethune moved from a small town on the Erie Canal--the economic and technological marvel of the antebellum period--to a rapidly industrializing major American city, following the urban migration of many Americans. Unlike many women of her day she seized the promise of the growing nation to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in an occupation of her choice and succeeded.

An Early Encounter with Tomorrow
An Early Encounter with Tomorrow

Author: Arnold Lewis

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780252023057

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Chicago in the late nineteenth century was the wonder city of the Western world, its famous Loop the laboratory in which to study innovative commercial architecture. There, Old World assumptions were overthrown by New World realities, as the past was discounted, the present glorified, and the future eagerly anticipated.

Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934
Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934

Author: Thomas Leslie

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2013-05-15

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0252094794

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A detailed tour, inside and out, of Chicago's distinctive towers from an earlier age For more than a century, Chicago's skyline has included some of the world's most distinctive and inspiring buildings. This history of the Windy City's skyscrapers begins in the key period of reconstruction after the Great Fire of 1871 and concludes in 1934 with the onset of the Great Depression, which brought architectural progress to a standstill. During this time, such iconic landmarks as the Chicago Tribune Tower, the Wrigley Building, the Marshall Field and Company Building, the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Palmolive Building, the Masonic Temple, the City Opera, Merchandise Mart, and many others rose to impressive new heights, thanks to innovations in building methods and materials. Solid, earthbound edifices of iron, brick, and stone made way for towers of steel and plate glass, imparting a striking new look to Chicago's growing urban landscape. Thomas Leslie reveals the daily struggles, technical breakthroughs, and negotiations that produced these magnificent buildings. He also considers how the city's infamous political climate contributed to its architecture, as building and zoning codes were often disputed by shifting networks of rivals, labor unions, professional organizations, and municipal bodies. Featuring more than a hundred photographs and illustrations of the city's physically impressive and beautifully diverse architecture, Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871–1934 highlights an exceptionally dynamic, energetic period of architectural progress in Chicago.