At the turn of the 19th century, visionary Chicago architect Louis Sullivan (mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright) created rhapsodies in steel, iron and brick.

His early high rise buildings—including the Sullivan Center and the Wainwright Building—were both awe-inspiring and functional, serving a need to serve a surging capitalist world and a growing population. Director Manfred Kirchheimer crafts a lively account of Sullivan, his rival Daniel Burham, and the other architects who gave rise the modern skyscraper: a technological and aesthetic wonder that would change city life and our world’s skylines forever.