Carson Pirie Scott

Louis Sullivan and the Chicago Department Store

Siry Joseph M.

Long recognized as a Chicago landmark, the Carson Pirie Scott Building also represents a milestone in the development of architecture. The last large commercial structure designed by Louis Sullivan, the Carson building reflected the culmination of the famed architect's career as a creator of tall steel buildings. In this study, Joseph Siry traces the origins of the building's design and analyzes its role in commercial, urban, and architectural history.

Reviews

"Siry's book is not about a store per se. Rather, it is a vehicle for examining how one man's ideas at once expressed and informed defining aspects of material life in his immediate milieu and beyond... Carson Pirie Scott transcends the confines of ordinary case studies to become a formidable work of cultural history". – Journal of American History

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