Dankmar Adler was an American architect, designer. A prominent early architect in the Midwest, Mr. Adler began practice in Chicago prior to the great fire of 1871, but his most successful years came later in association with the late Louis Sullivan when the firm won wide recognition.
Background
Dankmar Adler was born on 3 July in 1844 in Stadtlengsfeld, Thuringia, Germany. His father, rabbi Liebman Adler, named him by compounding the German word for thanks, dank, with the Hebrew word for bitter, mar, for Adler’s mother had died at his birth. At the age of ten, Adler emigrated with his father to America.
Education
Adler's family migrated to America and lived in Detroit, where Adler received a public school education and began his architectural career.
Career
In 1861, Adler and his father moved to Chicago, where rabbi Adler headed Congregation Anshe Ma’ariv. Adler worked as a draftsman for Augustus Bauer until the start of the Civil War, when he fought in the Union army, participating in campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia before finishing his commission as a draftsman in the Topographical Engineers in Tennessee.
After the war Adler worked for Bauer and then for O. S. Kinney; in 1871, he formed a partnership with Edward Burling. He and Burling designed over one hundred buildings in their first year together, their success due in part to repairing and replacing the damage caused by the Chicago fire.
Adler formed his own architectural firm in 1879 and completed his first important project, the Central Music Hall in Chicago, that same year. This project, which allowed him to make use of his knowledge of acoustics, led to other commissions for theaters, and to a position as an acoustic consultant for Carnegie Hall.
Louis Sullivan became Adler’s partner in 1881. The two men complemented each other perfectly; Sullivan handled the creative design work, while Adler managed the engineering and administrative work. They became known for modern style buildings that were original in design. Frank Lloyd Wright trained in their office. Sullivan designed the bold unifying designs for buildings such as the Wainright in Saint Louis (1890-1891), and Adler devised the mechanical and structural means to make the designs work.
Adler wrote many articles concerning the technical and legal aspects of architecture. He was politically active, fighting for the reform of building codes in Chicago and drafting proposals for state regulation of the architectural profession.
Adler was also active in professional associations, serving as the first treasurer of the Western Association of Architects and as the organization’s president the following year. He was treasurer of the newly formed Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture.
The economic depression of 1893 took its toll on the architectural profession, causing Adler to leave Sullivan in 1895. He then worked as consulting architect and sales manager for an elevator company, but after six months returned to architecture. On his own. Adler never received another significant commission but continued to design small projects and write articles and papers. His last architectural project was the Isaiah Temple in Chicago, completed one year before his death.
Achievements
Restored (after the great fire in Chicago) the old Chicago Tribune at Dearborn and Madison; Delmonico's at Madison and Clark; Kingsbury Hall on Clark Street; the Garrett Bible Institute on Lake Street, and the Methodist Church Block on Clark. One of the most important build¬ings he designed in that phase of his career was the Sinai Temple at Indiana and 21st Street, later, (in 1892) remodeled by Adler & Sullivan. His out¬standing achievement, however, was the Central Music Hall at Randolph and State Street. In planning the structure Adler devoted much time to the study of acoustics, and his success in solving the problem brought him wide recognition.
He was frequently called upon on similar projects in eastern cities to act as acoustical' expert. The designer of the Morgan Park Military Academy, the Isaiah Temple, a Jewish Synagogue at Vincennes and 45th Street, dedicated in March 1899. Adler wrote many articles for building magazines, pertaining chiefly to the technical or legal aspects of architecture. Many of these were published in the Inland Architect, one of Chicago’s early building magazines.
(The constructed building was the largest in the United St...)
1889
Prudential (Guaranty) Building in Buffalo
(It is an early example of modern skyscrapere architecture.)
1895
Stock Exchange Building
1894
Zion Temple
Sinai Temple
Membership
Mr. Adler was the President of the Society.
Chicago Chapter, A.I.A. and the Illinois Society of Architects
,
United State of America
1886 - 1888
Mr. Adler was appointed by the Governor as the Board's first Chairman.
State Board of Architectural Examiners
,
United State of America
1888
Connections
Dankmar married to Dila. They had a daughter.
Spouse:
Dila
coworker:
O. S. Kinney
Dankmar Adler joined O. S. Kinney was one of the older architects who had established a large practice in the city.
coworker:
Edward Burling
Dankmar Adler began practice in partnership with Edward Burling and for nine consecutive years they worked together, successively under the names of Edward Burling & Company, Burling & Adler, and Burling, Adler & Company.