Elevator Enclosure Grille, from the Chicago Stock Exchange, 30 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago architectural firm of Adler and Sullivan designed some of the most important and innovative early skyscrapers in the Midwest. While Dankmar Adler specialized in engineering, Louis Sullivan specialized in design. The Chicago Stock Exchange building, for which they designed this elevator grille, was the highlight of their partnership. Sullivan believed that form should follow function and his designs were inspired by the prairie – like the stylized seed pods seen here. Elevators were a recent invention and traveling vertically was a new experience. Sullivan designed his elevator grilles, the metal cages surrounding the elevator car and shaft, to be seen while walking through corridors as well as experienced while rapidly moving from floor to floor. Sullivan was a mentor to many influential Chicago architects of the Prairie School, including Frank Lloyd Wright and George Elmslie.