Ada Louise Huxtable Summary

The title of Ada Louise Huxtable’s book is not the only thing that alludes to Louis Sullivan’s article in 1896, “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered.” Sullivan’s article is concerned with how “form follows function”. However, the overarching question within Sullivan’s article asks: What type of decoration or façade should these steel skeleton multi-storied office towers be wrapped in? Huxtable believes that this very question is one that needs repeating. Huxtable not only gives us a look back, but also offers her expectations for the future in the answering of this very question.
Huxtable’s “history lesson” shows us that many architects throughout the years have not been unable to agree on how to approach the skyscraper. Alternatively,