photographic survey of adler and sullivan's wainwright tomb interior, wainwright building, and union trust building during trip to st. louis

faced with a tight schedule revolving around back-to-back lectures given by john vinci on louis sullivan's ornament, i didn't have much time to document the architecture of st. louis like i did the year before. thankfully, vinci and i stayed in adler and sullivan's union trust building (now a boutique hotel renamed "saint louis") so i had time to photograph sullivan's restored buff-colored terra cotta ornament, including the reconstructed entrance adorned with ornament reinterpreted from  sullivan's original design. with the wainwright in walking distance, i spent a few hours shooting the facade's terra cotta ornament, focusing primarily on the spandrels executed in a red slip by the winkle terra cotta company, st. louis, mo.

the highlight of this year's trip was a private tour (thanks to tim samuelson) of adler and sullivan's wainwright tomb interior during our visit to fountaine cemetery. our guide was kind enough to let me photograph any and all details, including  the seldom seen, fully functional sullivan-designed cast brass skeleton key that's still used to unlock the inner-vestibule doors since the tomb was completed in 1892. after visiting the cemetery we then visited the st. louis library to view original ink on linen drawings of the tomb that were detailed by sullivan's draftsman, george grant elmslie. 

note: the photographic images are arranged by building commission, beginning with wainwright building and ending with union trust building. 

WAINWRIGHT BUILDING (1891) EXTERIOR ORNAMENT:

WAINWRIGHT TOMB (1892) INTERIOR:

UNION TRUST BUILDING (1893) TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT:

further reading: