Louis Curtiss

Louis Curtiss
Born	(1865-07-01)July 1, 1865 Belleville, Ontario
Died	June 24, 1924(1924-06-24) (aged 58) Kansas City, Missouri
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Tarrant County Courthouse Tarrant County Courthouse; Fort Worth, Texas; added to the National Register of Historic Places October 15, 1970 Boley Clothing Company Building Boley Clothing Company Building (1909), Kansas City, Missouri; one of the world's first glass curtain-wall structures. Gage County Courthouse Gage County Courthouse in Beatrice, Nebraska; added to the National Register of Historic Places January 10, 1990 Henry County Courthouse Missouri State Building, World's Columbian Exposition William Rockhill Nelson residence

Louis Singleton Curtiss, (July 1, 1865 – June 24, 1924) was a Canadian-born American architect. Notable as a pioneer of the curtain wall design, he was once described as "the Frank Lloyd Wright of Kansas City", Missouri. In his career, he designed more than 200 buildings, though not all were realized. There are approximately 30 examples of his work still extant in Kansas City, Missouri where Curtiss spent his career, including his best known design, the Boley Clothing Company Building. Other notable works can be found throughout the American midwest.

Curtiss was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. He studied architecture at the University of Toronto and in Paris before coming to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1887. In 1889 he began an architectural partnership with Frederick C. Gunn that produced over a dozen buildings. When the partnership dissolved in 1899, Curtiss, age 34, continued as a solo architect.

Curtiss designed the Boley Clothing Company Building in Kansas City, which is renowned as "one of the first glass curtain wall structures in the world." The six-story building also features cantilever floor slabs, cast iron structural detailing, and terra cotta decorative elements. The Historic American Buildings Survey described Curtiss' residence for Bernard Corrigan as "an important regional example of the Prairie Style" and "among the earliest residential structures in Kansas City to make extensive use of reinforced concrete."