System of Architectural Ornament, Plate 19, Untitled

In 1922 a small group of friends and colleagues worked with the Art Institute to commission a series of drawings from Louis Sullivan illustrating his philosophy of architectural ornament. Completed in the last year of his life, this project—an essay and twenty detailed plates—explores Sullivan’s belief that ornament was the consummate expression of the architect’s intellect and creative freedom, ideas that would have a great impact on the next generation of architects in Chicago. This publication is now understood as one of the most influential statements on modern architecture ever produced.