The Western Association of Architects (WAA) was an American professional body founded in Chicago in 1884 separately from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

(AIA) by

John Wellborn Root John Wellborn Root (January 10, 1850 – January 15, 1891) was an American architect who was based in Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style. Two of his buildings have been designated National Hist ...

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the ''Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American archi ...

Dankmar Adler Dankmar Adler (July 3, 1844 – April 16, 1900) was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential skyscrapers that boldly addr ...

, and

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

, because they felt slighted by East Coast architects of the AIA. "Members consisted of architects from the Midwest and the South with chapters forming in many states. The WAA was the first architectural organization to petition for licensure of architects. Many architects were members of both WAA and AIA...." The WAA merged with the AIA in 1889.

Presidents

* Charles E. Illsley of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, 1885 *

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 1886 * John W. Root of Chicago, 1887 * Sidney Smith of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, 1888 * W. W. Carlin of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, 1889"Fifth Annual Convention, Western Association of Architects" in
Engineering and Building Record
' 19, no. 1 (December 1, 1888): 3-8

Other notable members

* Louise Blanchard Bethune *

* Bernard Vonnegut Sr. *

Mason Maury Johnson Mason Maury (May 1, 1847 – January 2, 1919) was an American architect and inventor who designed and built over 700 residential and commercial structures, mostly in Louisville, Kentucky where he pioneered Richardsonian Romanesque and Pr ...

* William J. Dodd * Oscar C. Wehle

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1884 Organizations disestablished in 1889 Architecture-related professional associations 1889 mergers and acquisitions Organizations based in Chicago