Guaranty Building
A tall steel frame wrapped head to foot in red terracotta, every inch alive with Sullivan’s ornament.
At a glance
The Guaranty Building, finished in 1896, is one of the great early skyscrapers by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Thirteen storeys of steel frame are sheathed in red terracotta covered, top to bottom, in Sullivan’s flowing foliate ornament. It is a built argument for his belief that a tall building should rise, and look as though it rises.
Key facts
- Location: 140 Pearl Street, Buffalo, New York
- Architects: Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan
- Completed: 1896
- Material: steel frame, red terracotta cladding
- Style: Sullivanesque (American Art Nouveau ornament)
History
Sullivan had set out his ideas in an essay on the tall office building as a problem of art, not just engineering. The Guaranty, built for a Buffalo company, was his chance to prove them at full height.
He stressed the verticals with continuous piers, capped the top with a deep ornamented cornice, and covered the terracotta in his own organic patterns. Restored after years of neglect, it stands as a textbook of the early skyscraper.
What you see
The tower reads as a single upward gesture: tall piers running unbroken to a band of round windows and a rich cornice. Look closely and every surface is worked, the terracotta swirling with leaves and seed-pods. It is steel-age engineering dressed in nature, Sullivan’s answer to European Art Nouveau.
Practical information
- Open: an office building; lobby and an interpretive centre accessible
- Cost: free to view; lobby exhibit open on set days
- Best for: the terracotta ornament and the cornice
- Time needed: 15–30 minutes
Getting there
The building is in downtown Buffalo at Church and Pearl Streets, a short walk from the Metro Rail on Main Street.
Nearby
- Buffalo City Hall — the great Art Deco tower nearby
- Darwin Martin House — Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie house in the city
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — Guaranty Building
- National Park Service — National Historic Landmark record
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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