Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler was a prominent architect born on July 3, 1844, who played a pivotal role in shaping American architectural practices in the late 19th century. After immigrating to the United States with his family in 1854, Adler trained as an architect in Detroit and later moved to Chicago, where he made significant contributions to the field. His collaboration with architect Louis Sullivan from 1883 to 1896 marked the pinnacle of his career, during which they specialized in theaters and became known for their innovative skyscraper designs.
Adler’s work included noteworthy projects such as the Chicago Stock Exchange Building and the Auditorium Building, which showcased a blend of aesthetic beauty and engineering prowess. His partnership with Sullivan was essential; while Adler managed the business and engineering aspects, Sullivan focused on the artistic design of their projects. Despite facing financial challenges following the Panic of 1893, Adler continued to influence architecture through consulting work and leadership roles in various professional organizations.
Adler and Sullivan's legacy helped shape the Chicago School of architecture, leaving a lasting impact on future generations, including the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Adler’s contributions are recognized for revolutionizing urban landscapes and skyscraper design in America. He passed away on April 16, 1900, leaving behind a significant architectural legacy.
Subject Terms
Dankmar Adler
- Born: July 3, 1844
- Birthplace: Stadtlengsfeld, Prussia (now in Germany)
- Died: April 16, 1900
- Place of death: Chicago, Illinois
German-born architect and engineer
Adler was a successfularchitect who created his most renowned work with partner Louis Sullivan and developed the Chicago style of architecture. Adler is remembered for the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, the Auditorium Building, Sinai Temple, and Temple Isaiah.
Early Life
Dankmar Adler (DANK-mahr AD-lur) was born July 3, 1844. His father, Liebman Adler, worked as a teacher and cantor in the synagogue, and the family immigrated to the United States in 1854, settling in Detroit. It was here that the father became rabbi at Beth El, a Jewish congregation on the verge of becoming Reform. During these years, Adler attended public school in Detroit but failed the entrance exam to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Instead of attending university he became an apprentice to Detroit architect John Schaefer and then E. Willard Smith. In 1861, the Adler family moved to Chicago, where the father obtained a pulpit position at Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv Synagogue. After this relocation, Adler found employment for a brief period with the architectural offices of Augustus Bauer, but in 1862, with the outbreak of the Civil War, Adler joined the First Illinois Light Artillery.
During the Civil War, Adler’s skills as an architect were applied toward engineering, and he served as a draftsman in the Topographical Engineer’s Office of the Military Division of Tennessee. Following the Civil War, Adler returned to Chicago, where he found a position with the offices of O. S. Kinney, who died shortly after Adler’s employment. Nevertheless, the son, Ashley Kinney, and Adler formed a partnership, Kinney and Adler. In 1871, Adler created a partnership with Edward Burling, an important step in Adler’s early career. Projects of Burling and Adler included the First National Bank and Sinai Temple. When this partnership ended in 1879, Adler labored on his own for two years as D. Adler and Company, working on such projects as the Central Music Hall. With this quick success, he met, hired, and promoted as junior partner the architect who would become Adler’s most significant partner, Louis Sullivan.
Life’s Work
Adler’s architectural career achieved its apex during his collaboration with Sullivan between 1883 and 1896, when Sullivan was Adler’s junior partner. The partnership first specialized in theaters and auditoriums before expanding into high-rise and commercial buildings, with most of them located in Chicago. Their most significant projects included the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, the Auditorium Building, the Schiller Building, the Transportation Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition, and Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv Synagogue. Other noteworthy buildings were the Union Trust and Wainwright Buildings in St. Louis, Missouri; the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York; and the Opera House in Pueblo, Colorado. Generally, Adler managed the business side of the firm and oversaw the engineering design aspects of the projects; Sullivan was primarily involved with the architectural design of the buildings. Although Adler’s father was the rabbi at the Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv Synagogue, Adler was not known for being a devout member of the congregation.
Following the onset of the Panic of 1893, Adler and Sullivan fell on financial hard times, and the two decided to dissolve their business partnership. Adler created a second D. Adler and Company with his sons, Abraham and Sidney, but it did not achieve the success he had known. The second D. Adler and Company produced only four buildings, the noteworthy one being the Isaiah Temple. However, Adler conducted a significant amount of consulting work in Chicago as well as in New York, Minneapolis, and St. Louis.
Besides his work as an architect and engineer, Adler was a member of several professional organizations, including the Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, president of the Western Association of Architects, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Examiners of Architects, and a member of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition Board of Architects. Adler died on April 16, 1900, at his home in Chicago.
Significance
Adler and his partner Sullivan revolutionized the way Americans conceptualized cities and their skylines. They built skyscrapers that were aesthetically pleasing, in a style that later became known as Chicago. Adler and Sullivan, along with Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, William LeBaron Jenney, Martin Roche, John Root, and Solon S. Beman, formed the Chicago school of architects. Nonetheless, Adler and Sullivan were a dynamic pair, with Adler providing the engineering expertise to build taller and larger buildings, and Sullivan giving the artistic know-how to make the buildings architecturally beautiful. Adler and Sullivan’s combination of practical engineering and architectural aesthetics left a significant impression on the next generation of architects, and specifically on their apprentice and draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright.
Bibliography
Cahan, Richard, and Michael Williams. Richard Nickel’s Chicago: Photographs of a Lost City. Chicago: Cityfiles Press, 2008. Book of photographs by Richard Nickel of architectural masterpieces in Chicago, many of which have already been destroyed. Several works by Adler and Sullivan are depicted.
Elstein, Rochelle S. “The Architecture of Dankmar Adler.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 26, no. 4 (December, 1967): 242-249. Although Adler admitted in his writings that his contribution to his partnership with Sullivan was engineering skills, this article examines the often-overlooked artistic contributions made by Adler.
Gregersen, Charles E., Joan W. Saltzstein, and Susan Wolfson. Dankmar Adler: His Theatres and Auditoriums. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, Ohio University Press, 1990. This is one of the few books ever published exclusively on Adler, and it covers in depth certain aspects of his designs.
Siry, Joseph M. The Chicago Auditorium Building: Adler and Sullivan’s Architecture and the City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. A detailed account of the architectural, historical, and social impact of Adler and Sullivan’s work on the city of Chicago.