ORIGIN OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

The consequences of the fires of 1866-1872 for the architecture of three US cities and the first two years of Chicago’s recovery after the fire of 1871 with a further break until the end of the decade are described. The role of this break in the development of Jenney’s creativity, which led to the emergence of the Chicago School, and the work of James McLaughlin, which did not develop in Cincinnati, are shown. The role of Peter Wight in promoting the ideas of Viollet-le-Duc, which became the basis of the movement, and his influence on the leaders of Burnham and Root, are noted. It describes the partnership between Adler and Sullivan, their works that foreshadowed Art Nouveau, the contacts of Burnham and Root with the Brooks brothers’ developers, which influenced the development and then the existence of the Chicago School.