(Wirt) Dexter Building

“Only after grasping the significance of this seemingly simple structure can one be fully prepared to understand the true meaning of Adler & Sullivan's more elaborately detailed works.”

“Nonetheless, the Dexter's striations, even at such a reduced scale, are clear: with the change from stone to brick between the first and second floors, and from the monolithic wall treatment of the second-through-fifth floors to the colonnaded top floor.”

“Relative to other buildings of the era, including earlier buildings by Sullivan, the Wirt Dexter Building is distinctive for the lack of decorative ornamentation. At this point in his career, Sullivan was already a proven master of ornamental design; however, his focus had never been on ornament simply for the sake of beauty.”

“Sullivan, however, in a distinct recognition of the innovations in materials technology during the latter half of the century, chose a hard-baked, pressed red brick for the principal facing material of the Wirt Dexter Building.”

“However, its straightforward appearance belies its significance as a precursor of modern architectural design. Relative to the buildings of its day, the Wirt Dexter Building is an important departure in two distinct respects: its almost completely unornamented front elevation and the incorporation of cast-iron framing into the same facade.”

“In the Wirt Dexter Building, the principal ornamental focus is on the monolithic appearance of the wall. To a degree, the uniform treatment of broad wall expanses was always a characteristic of Romanesque architecture, and since medieval times, rough-faced stone was generally used.”

“In this traditional method the floor joists are supported by a combination of the exterior load-bearing masonry walls and intermediate interior columns. The buildings had an exuberance of distinctive ornament treatment, featuring panels of stylized botanical forms placed on the building in such a way as to suggest the organic, or creative, development of architecture.”

“The surviving buildings documenting the contributions of Dankmar Adler and Louis H. Sullivan to international architectural thought and practice constitute a delicate chronological chain in which the Wirt Dexter Building is in integral and irreplaceable link.”

“Both of these aspects were major steps toward the development of a modern architectural aesthetic. Superficially, the building is a variation on the Romanesque style of architecture that held sway in the architectural community during the late nineteenth century.”

“The Ryerson and Troescher buildings (both built in 1884 and now demolished) are the outstanding examples of the work from this period. Structurally, the buildings were of masonry and semi-mill construction or were variations of the type.”