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Social Beauty

"But a new passion is about to arise within the soul of man -- the passion of Democracy -- which shall inspire his intellect to set forth in un-exampled clarity and spiritual beauty...."
- Louis Sullivan

Sullivan believed that the artist is a force that draws inspiration from nature and gives formless things a form. This process transforms rigid geometries into awakened shapes that bring the vitality of nature into human environments.
This awakening process is based on the growth of a plant. Sullivan referenced books like Gray's School and Field Book of Botany, which described plant growth as a linear process beginning at the sprouting of a seed. The image to the left shows Sullivan's drawing of the seed germ motif. This sprouting motion became the basis for how Sullivan drew the awakening motion of shape.  

Prudential Building, Buffalo, New York

For Sullivan there were two options for society: Feudalism and Democracy. Feudalism was simply an adherence to the primary natural law: might makes right. For Sullivan, Feudalism described much more than just medieval peasants -- it described Sullivan's America, where a laissez-faire economy fed into a legal, theological and philosophic system that promoted a "great system of business enterprise." He even described those commissioning skyscrapers as a "modern feudal baron" creating a castle for financial gain. 

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It is interesting then to remember that Sullivan is considered by many to be the father of modern skyscrapers. The reason for this is, at least early in his life, Sullivan did not fight the rise of skyscrapers because he believed that social issues like increasing rents and denser urban settings dictated the existence of skyscrapers. Instead, he sought to discover the essence of skyscrapers so that he could discover the solution to them. He said "it is of the essence of every problem that it contains and suggests its own solution. This I believe to be natural law." By looking at both this statement and Sullivan's claim that "form ever follows function", Sullivan is saying that the solution (the form) of a problem like skyscrapers arises from the problem itself (the function). So Sullivan sought to discover what skyscrapers should be based on the social issues they reflected.

Democracy was the contrast to Feudalism. If self-preservation and power was the law of Feudalism, Integrity was the law of Democracy. By Integrity, Sullivan meant more than just truthfulness. Sullivan claimed that Integrity is being aware that we are joined to each other and being true to that bond. He stated "Feudalism has ever been the urge of that phantasmal fear or lust which regarded the other man as enemy or prey; Democracy ever that urge which regarded the other man, the stranger, as friend, likeness and equal."

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So then when it came to skyscrapers, Sullivan wanted to do more than create a castle for a single person so they could sit like a hermit above everyone else. Instead, the building was to be given to the public as a gift of beauty, representing the democratic values of the place it was in. Viewing the skyscraper from this perspective, Sullivan considered it to be "one of the most magnificent opportunities that... has ever [been] offered to the proud spirit of man." Sullivan set out to celebrate the height of these buildings through beautiful, lofty facades that represented the rising, free spirit of man. Sullivan wanted his skyscrapers to inspire not just the people in them but everyone who saw them, inspiring everyone to greater heights. This was the spirit of Democracy, viewing everyone as equal participants in the beauties of society.

Detail from Prudential Building, Buffalo, New York

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