The Autobiography of an Idea

Written near the end of his life, when commissions had dried up and his reputation was in eclipse, this is the architect Louis Sullivan’s account of how a mind and a philosophy took shape. He tells his own story in the third person, tracing a boyhood between New England and Chicago, his training here and abroad, and the slow forming of the conviction that gave American building its motto, that form should follow function. Along the way he writes about the rise of the modern city, the steel frame, and the tall office building he did so much to define. Part memoir and part manifesto, it is at once a personal record and a statement of belief about what architecture is for. Free to download as a PDF and EPUB.