The Depression of 1873 dried up much of Furness 's work , and he was forced to let Sullivan go . Sullivan moved to Chicago in 1873 to take part in the building boom following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . He worked for William LeBaron Jenney , the architect often credited with erecting the first steel frame building . After less than a year with Jenney , Sullivan moved to Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts for a year . He returned to Chicago and began work for the firm of Joseph S. Johnston & John Edelman as a draftsman . Johnston & Edleman were commissioned for the design of the Moody Tabernacle , and had the interior decorative '' fresco secco '' stencils ( stencil technique applied on dry plaster ) designed by Sullivan . In 1879 Dankmar Adler hired Sullivan . A year later , Sullivan became a partner in that firm . This marked the beginning of Sullivan 's most productive years
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Louis Sullivan