George A. Fuller
George A. Fuller | |
---|---|
Chicago, Illinois, US | |
Alma mater | Andover College |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | The invention of the modern skyscraper |
Spouse | Ellen Mary Channing |
George A. Fuller (October 21, 1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system.
Early life and career
Fuller was born in
In New York, Fuller's design for a new club house for the
George A. Fuller Company
Fuller moved to Chicago, the locus of much of the skyscraper construction in the United States at the time, where he formed a partnership with C. Everett Clark, another architect from Massachusetts, which lasted only two years. He then raised $50,000 and set up the George A. Fuller Company in 1882.[4] Fuller's new firm was different from the many architecture firms of the time, in that it intended to handle all aspects of building construction except for the design of the building, which would come from outside architects. In this way, Fuller created the modern concept of the general contractor.[5]
One of the new firm's first jobs was the
Very little is really known today of the properties of steel ... and though events point strongly to [it] becoming the metal of the future, there exists among many reasonable conservative men, a wide and well-grounded distrust of its use in the higher engineer or architectural structures, on account of its mysterious behavior, and frequent erratic and inexplicable failures.[6]
Fuller's firm built the
Fuller's firm also built the
With the success of his firm, Fuller became a multimillionaire, and his wife and daughters entered Chicago society. He commissioned Charles P. Post to design a home on Drexel Boulevard on the
In 1892, New York City altered its building regulations to allow skeleton construction and curtain walls, in which the load created by the building was carried by the internal skeleton and not by the exterior wall, a construction method which had been allowed under the Chicago building code for years. This change prompted Fuller to open an office in New York in 1896,[13] and soon the company had contracts in Boston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Baltimore, as well as in Chicago and New York.[14] Future skyscraper builder William A. Starrett joined the company in 1897 as an office boy.[15]
Death
Fuller died suddenly on December 14, 1900, from
The Fuller Company after Fuller
Following the death of Fuller, Harry S. Black, Fuller's son-in-law, took over as president of the Fuller Company and aggressively expanded its capitalization and operations, merging it with smaller companies, and bringing on to the company's board of directors such men as
Black announced:
The new company will undoubtedly enter foreign fields, with the view of introducing steel construction in cities like London, Paris and Berlin. Its relations will be very close to the United States Steel Corporation, and naturally, as we will be the largest consumers of structural steel in the world, our terms as to price and delivery will be most favorable.[20]
Indeed, Black had constructed the new company's board of directors with an eye for its need for steel and rail transport. It included
U.S. Realty's stock never performed as expected, although the members of the board did receive substantial salaries and large dividends on the stock they owned, even as the company was underperforming. When the Fuller Company was implicated in the corruption of the building trades union leader, Samuel Parks, its stock fell. Board members dumped their stock and left the company, but Black was buying up stock at the same time. He took control of the company, naming a new board which made him president.[21]
In 1920, together with
]Among the many buildings constructed by the Fuller Company under Black were the
The Fuller Company was acquired by the Northrop Corporation in 1971.[25]
References
Notes
- ^ Alexiou, p. 2
- ^ a b Alexiou, p. 3
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 5–8
- ^ Alexiou, p. 9
- ^ a b Alexiou, p. 10
- ^ American Architect and Building News (1889), quoted in Alexiou, p. 11
- s.v. Holabird & Roche)
- ^ Emporis
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 10–12
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 15–16
- ^ Alexiou, pp.12–13
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 23, 29
- ^ Alexiou, pp.15–16, 29
- ^ Alexiou, p. 30
- ^ United States War Dept 1919, p. 2530.
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 31, 34
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 34–36
- ^ Alexiou, p. 103
- ^ a b Alexiou, pp.103–104, 112–116
- ^ Alexiou, p.114
- ^ Alexiou, pp. 161–162,169–173
- ^ Fura Kenchiku, Ja.Wikipedia.
- ^ "Savoy Plaza" on New York Architecture. Accessed:2011-02-12
- ^ Alexiou, passim
- ^ "PCAD - Publication: Northrop Corp. To Buy the George A. Fuller Co".
Bibliography
- Alexiou, Alice Sparberg (2010). The Flatiron: The New York Landmark and the Incomparable City that Arose With It. New York: ISBN 978-0-312-38468-5.
- Biography at Chicago Encyclopedia
- Grave at Oak Woods Cemetery
- "The History of Skyscrapers" By Mary Bellis
- Obituary in New York Times
- United States War Dept (1919). War Expenditures: Camps. U.S. Government Printing Office.