1832-1907
Engineer and Architect

Leader of the Chicago School.

Trained as an engineer, William Le Baron Jenney became one of the most influential architects of his time. With his knowledge of structural engineering, he was the first architect to build tall buildings. He and his students, who became known as the Chicago school, used iron and, later, steel skeletons to support their buildings. In time they stopped trying to adapt traditional styles and began to design the exteriors of their buildings to reveal the underlying structure. Jenney's influence on modern architecture came by way of the men who trained and worked under him: Louis Sullivan, Martin Roche, William Holabird, and Daniel Hudson Burnham were the nucleus of the Chicago school.

Early Life and Training.

Jenney was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, in 1832, the son of the owner of a fleet of whaling ships. After studying...