10 Famous Chicago Architects

Louis_Sullivan photo By Unknown author Wikimedia

10 Famous Chicago Architects

Chicago would not be the same without the talented architects who have built amazing buildings all over Chicago. There are many architects who have done architectural works in Chicago since the old days. Some are born in Chicago while others migrated from their countries to work and design buildings in Chicago.

Architects have left their iconic mark on the city of Chicago for centuries. In this article, we are looking at some of the most famous architects who have changed Chicago and made it look amazing and beautiful. The following are the 10 famous Chicago architects:

1. Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright photo By New York World Wikimedia

Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, U.S. He is a designer, writer, educator and architect. At age of 19, Lloyd wanted to be an architect and joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1887, Wright moved to Chicago in search of employment. After several interviews with famous firms, he got a job as a draftsman with Joseph Lyman Silsbee. He also worked on family projects while still in a firm such as All Souls Church in Chicago for his uncle and the Hillside Home School I in Spring Green for two of his aunts. He worked in Chicago and had done several designs. Before he died, he had designed more than 1000 structures in a period of 70 years of being in the architecture field.

2. Louis Sullivan

Louis_Sullivan photo By Unknown author Wikimedia

Louis Sullivan was known as the ‘father of skyscrapers’ and ‘father of modernism’. He was an important architect of the Chicago School, an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects not forgetting he was as well Frank Lloyd Wright’s mentor.

In 1873, Louis moved to Chicago to take part in the building boom following the Great Chicago Fire. He worked for architect William LeBaron Jenney, then moved to Paris after less than a year of working with William, to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. After a year he returned to Chicago and started working for the firm of Joseph S. Johnston and John Edelman as a draftsman.

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3. Daniel Burnham

Daniel Burnham photo By Matzene Wikimedia

He is one of the most successful Chicago architects and urban designers. Between 1892 and 1893 he was selected as Director of Works for the World’s Columbian Exposition, commonly known as ‘The White City’.

He had major roles in making master plans for the development of a number of cities such as plans for Manila, Baguio, downtown Washington, D.C, and Plan of Chicago. He has done several notable buildings such as Reliance Building, Flatiron Building, Union Station (Washington, D.C.), and Ellicott Square Building. Daniel as well- designed famous skyscrapers in Chicago such as Union Station in Washington D.C, San Francisco’s Merchants Exchange, London’s Selfridges department store, and the Flatiron Building of triangular shape in New York City.

4. William Le Baron Jenney

William Le Baron Jenney was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on the 25^th, 1832 of September. He was famously known for building the first skyscraper in 1884. In 1846, Jenny started his studies at Phillips Academy, Andover and at the Lawrence Scientific school at Harvard in 1853. However, he later transferred to École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures to study architecture and engineering.

He moved to Chicago in 1867 and started his architectural office which only focused on urban planning and commercial buildings. Leaders of Chicago such as Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, and Martin Roche, later on, carried out their architectural apprenticeships on Jenney’s staff.

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5. Sophia Hayden

Sophia Hayden photo by Harper’s magazine Wikimedia

She was born in Santiago, Chile. She developed an interest in architecture when she was in high school, West Roxbury High School in 1883 -1886. She attended the college of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study architecture and she graduated in 1890.

Sophia Hayden is mostly known for designing the Woman’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1892, Chigaco. At the time of designing this house, she was only 21 years, and it was the nation’s most prominent design competition for women at the time.

6. Jeanne Gang

Jeanne Gang photo By Columbia GSAPP Wekimedia

Jeanne Gang is one of the Chicago architects who does great and amazing work. She is the leader of Studio Gang ( an American architecture and urban design practice) and has offices in Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

She is mostly known for the Aqua Tower, the tallest woman-designed building worldwide by the time it was completed. Other notable work of Gang in Chicago includes Writers Theatre, the WMS Boathouse at Clark Park, City Hyde Park, and the University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons.

7. John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root was among the founders of the Chicago School style. He moved to Chicago in 1871 and he was employed as a draftsman in an architectural firm. In the firm, he met Daniel Burnham whom they worked together and in 1873 they formed their own firm known as Burnham and Root. They worked together for 18 years.

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8. Bertrand Goldberg

Bertrand Goldberg was born in Chicago on July 17, 1913, Chicago, in Illinois. He was an architect and industrial designer. He became most famous after building the Marina City complex in Chicago, Illinois, it was the world’s tallest reinforced concrete building at the time of completion.

He has done many notable works such as Dr. Aaron Heimbach House, Blue Island, Illinois, 1939, Levin House, Flossmoor, Illinois, 1956, West Palm Beach Christian Convention Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, 1965, master plan and buildings for the campus of Wilbur Wright College, Chicago, 1993 and Hilliard Towers Apartments, Chicago, 1966.

9. Edward J. Burling

Back in the 1840s to 1890s, Edward designed many buildings in Chicago. His first-ever project was in back 1845, he was signed up to build a Greek Revival home for Eli B. Williams (early settler and real estate developer of Chicago). This project was the breakthrough of his architectural journey, he designed several churches, grand homes and government buildings after the project.

He also worked for Mogul William B. Ogden in his firm, who was Chicago’s first mayor in 1837. He designed many buildings during these early years, sadly many of his early work was consumed by the Great Fire in 1871. However, the remaining ones are worth visiting and are unique with amazing designs.

10. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig was famously known by his surname Mies. He worked in Chicago and accomplished many designs before he died on August 17, 1969. He is among the pioneer architects of modernist architecture.

He was the head of the architecture school today known as the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Ludwig also established his own architectural style which he used to design his buildings.

He received several awards throughout his career such as Pour le Mérite (1959), Royal Gold Medal (1959), AIA Gold Medal (1960) and Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) among.

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