City Beautiful movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The City Beautiful Movement was a reform

philosophy of North American architecture and
urban planning that flourished during the 1890s
and 1900s with the intent of introducing
beautification and monumental grandeur in
cities. The movement, which was originally
associated mainly with Chicago, Cleveland,
Detroit, and Washington, D.C., promoted
beauty not only for its own sake, but also to
create moral and civic virtue among urban
populations.[1] Advocates of the philosophy
believed that such beautification could promote
a harmonious social order that would increase "White City" buildings in theWorld's Columbian Exposition(1893)
the quality of life, while critics would complain widely displayed and inspired the City Beautiful movement,
that the movement was overly concerned with influencing architecture with suchBeaux-Arts structures as the
Museum of Science and Industrybuilding.
aesthetics at the expense of social reform; Jane
Jacobs referred to the movement as an
"architectural design cult."[2]

Contents
1 History
1.1 Origins and effect
1.2 Architectural idioms
1.3 World's Columbian Exposition
1.4 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
1.5 McMillan Plan
1.6 Influence in other cities
1.6.1 Chicago
1.6.2 Coral Gables
1.6.3 Denver
1.6.4 Harrisburg
1.6.5 Memphis
1.6.6 Palos Verdes Estates
2 In Australia
2.1 Canberra
2.2 Melbourne
2.3 City Beautiful in Australia today
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

History
Origins and effect
The movement began in the United States in response to crowding in tenement districts, a consequence of high
birth rates, increased immigration and internal migration of rural populations into cities. The movement
flourished for several decades, and in addition to the construction of monuments, it also achieved great
influence in urban planning that endured throughout the 20th century, in particular in regard to the later creation
of housing projects in the United States. The "Garden City" movement in Britain influenced the contemporary
planning of some newer suburbs of London, and there was cross-influence between the two aesthetics, one
based in formal garden plans and urbanization schemes and the other, with its "semi-detached villas" evoking a
more rural atmosphere.

Architectural idioms

The particular architectural style of the movement borrowed mainly from the contemporary Beaux-Arts and
neoclassical architectures, which emphasized the necessity of order, dignity, and harmony.

World's Columbian Exposition

The first large-scale elaboration of the City Beautiful occurred during the World's Columbian Exposition of
1893 in Chicago. The planning of the exposition was directed by architect Daniel Burnham, who hired
architects from the eastern United States, as well as the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to build large-scale
Beaux-Arts monuments that were vaguely classical with uniform cornice height. The exposition displayed a
model city of grand scale, known as the "White City", with modern transport systems and no poverty visible.
The exposition is credited with resulting in the large-scale adoption of monumentalism for American
architecture for the next 15 years. Richmond, Virginia's Monument Avenue is one expression of this initial
phase.

Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The popularization begun by the World Columbian Exposition was increased by the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. The commissioner of architects selected Franco-American architect Emmanuel
Louis Masqueray to be Chief of Design of the fair. In this position, which Masqueray held for three years, he
designed the following fair buildings in the prevailing Beaux Arts mode: the Palace of Agriculture; the
cascades and colonnades; the Palace of Forestry, Fish, and Game; the Palace of Horticulture; and the Palace of
Transportation. All these were widely emulated in civic projects across the United States.[3] Masqueray
resigned soon after the fair opened in 1904, having been invited by Archbishop John Ireland of St. Paul to
Minnesota to design a new cathedral for the city in the fair's Beaux Arts style. Other celebrated architects of the
fair's buildings, notably Cass Gilbert, who designed the Saint Louis Art Museum, originally the fair's Palace of
the Fine Arts, similarly employed City Beautiful ideas from the exposition throughout their careers.

McMillan Plan

An early use of the City Beautiful ideal with the intent of

creating social order through beautification was the
McMillan Plan, (1902) named for Michigan Senator James
McMillan. The plan emerged from the Senate Park
Commission's redesigning of the monumental core of
Washington, D.C. to commemorate the city's centennial
and to fulfill unrealized aspects of the city plan of Pierre
Charles L'Enfant a century earlier.

The Washington planners, who included Burnham, Saint-
Gaudens, Charles McKim of McKim, Mead, and White,
and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., visited many of the great
cities of Europe. They hoped to make Washington
monumental and green like the European capitals of the
Axial plan of The Mall, Washington, D.C.: the
Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial extend the
central axis
era; they believed that state-organized beautification could lend legitimacy to government during a time of
social disturbance in the United States. The essence of the plan surrounded the United States Capitol with
monumental government buildings to replace "notorious slum communities". At the heart of the design was the
creation of the National Mall and eventually included Burnham's Union Station. The implementation of the
plan was interrupted by World War I but resumed after the war, culminating in the construction of the Lincoln
Memorial in 1922.

Influence in other cities

The success of the City Beautiful philosophy in Washington, D.C.,

San Antonio prior to 1920 with establishment
of the Riverwalk
A typical residential street inMiami's Coral
Gables
is credited with influencing subsequent plans for beautification of
many other cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland (The
Mall), Columbus, Des Moines, Denver, Detroit (the Cultural
Center, Belle Isle and Outer Drive),[4][5] Madison (with the axis
from the capitol building through State Street and to the University
of Wisconsin campus), Montreal, New York City (notably the
Manhattan Municipal Building), Philadelphia (the Benjamin
Franklin Parkway museum district between Philadelphia City Hall
and the Philadelphia Museum of Art), Pittsburgh (the Schenley
Farms district in the Oakland neighborhood of parks, museums,
and universities), San Antonio, Texas (San Antonio River
development), San Francisco (manifested by its Civic Center), and
the Washington State Capitol Campus in Olympia and the
University of Washington's Rainier Vista in Seattle. In Wilmington,
Delaware, it inspired the creation of Rodney Square and the
surrounding civic buildings. In New Haven, John Russell Pope
developed a plan for Yale University that eliminated substandard
housing and relocated the urban poor to the peripheries. Kansas
City, Missouri and Dallas, Texas undertook the installation of
parkways and parks under the influence of the movement,[6] and
Coral Gables, Florida would be an example of a city consistent
with the City Beautiful philosophy.
Chicago

Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago is considered one of

principal documents of the City Beautiful movement. The plan
featured a dynamic new civic center, axial streets, and a lush strip
of parkland for recreation alongside the city's lakefront. Of these,
only the lakefront park was implemented to any significant degree.

In 1913, the City of Chicago appointed a Commission with a

mandate to “make Chicago Beautiful.” As part of the plan, the
Pennsylvania Union Railroad Depot was to be moved to the west
side of the City and replaced with a new modern depot.[7] The
Capitol building in Denver West Side Property Owner’s Association was among those who
objected. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the Association’s
attorney, Sidney Adler of Loeb & Adler, said, “As I saw the
beautiful picture of the city beautiful we will have fountains in West Madison Street, with poets and poetesses
walking along Clinton, and the simple minded residents of the west side, after work is done, will take their
gondolas and row on the limpid bosom of the Chicago River idlely strumming guitars.” [8]

Coral Gables
Planned out as a suburb of Miami, Florida in the early 1920s by George Edgar Merrick during the Florida land
boom of the 1920s, Coral Gables was developed entirely upon the City Beautiful movement, with obelisks,
fountains, and monuments seen in street roundabouts, parks, city buildings and around the city. Today, Coral
Gables is one of Miami's most expensive suburban communities, long known for its strict zoning regulations
which preserve the City Beautiful elements along with its Mediterranean Revival architecture style, which is
prevalent throughout the city. Coral Gables has many parks and a heavy tree canopy with an urban forest
planted largely in the 1920s.

Denver

In Denver, Colorado, Mayor Robert W. Speer endorsed City Beautiful planning, with a plan for a Civic Center,
disposed along a grand esplanade that led to the Colorado State Capitol. The plan was partly realized, on a
reduced scale, with the Greek amphitheater, Voorhies Memorial and the Colonnade of Civic Benefactors,
completed in 1919. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation funded the Denver Public Library (1910), which was
designed as a three-story Greek Revival temple with a colossal Ionic colonnade across its front; inside it
featured open shelves, an art gallery and a children's room. Monuments and vistas were an essential feature of
City Beautiful urban planning: in Denver, Paris-trained American sculptor Frederick MacMonnies was
commissioned to design a monument marking the end of the Smoky Hill Trail. The bronze Indian guide he
envisaged was vetoed by the committee and replaced with an equestrian Kit Carson.

Harrisburg

Harrisburg's movement of beautification and improvement was one of the earliest and most successful urban
reform movements in the country.[9] It began when local minded residents became convinced that their city was
unattractive, unhealthy, and filthy, and lacked the appearance and facilities appropriate to its status as
Pennsylvania's state capital. The causes of the city's defects were well known: industrialization in the previous
half century had left the city poorly planned with unpaved streets and undeveloped water management systems.
Residents of Harrisburg suffered disease and illnesses caused by the lack of good filtration systems that could
filter the sewage dumped by populations further up the Susquehanna River. A disastrous fire that consumed the
state capitol in 1897 had spawned new conversation about the suitability of Harrisburg as a state capital.

The improvement campaign was sparked by a riveting speech of conservationist Mira Lloyd Dock to the
Harrisburg Board of Trade on December 20, 1900. Dock wanted to publicly challenge the horrific conditions in
Harrisburg, and set out to gain public sentiment in support of changing them. Dock’s speech was titled “The
City Beautiful” or “Improvement Work at Home and Abroad”, and this was the starting point for Harrisburg’s
city improvements. Dock’s contemporary and closest ally in her drive for urban beautification was J. Horace
McFarland, who was the president of the American Civic Association.[10] With McFarland and Dock working
together they were able to push the process of municipal improvement in Harrisburg by convincing prominent
community leaders to donate money, and by gathering the support of the majority of citizens. In April 1901 the
Harrisburg Telegraph a city newspaper published a front-page article on the city’s problems, which stressed
Dock’s message of beautification and recreation, paved streets, clean water, a city hall, land for parks, and a
covered sewer interceptor along the river. The following February, 1901, the population voted in favor of a
bond issue that funded $1.1 million in new constructions and city planning. These improvements, combined
with a new state capitol building in 1906, quickly transformed Harrisburg into a proud modern city by 1915.

Memphis

In Memphis, the City Beautiful Commission was officially established by a city ordinance on July 1, 1930,
making it the first and oldest beautification commission in the nation. It was the brainchild of the mayor, Mr. E.
H. Crump. The first Commission was appointed and had operating expenses of $1,500. A small office was set
up in The Nineteenth Century Club. Mrs. E. G. Willingham was chosen as chairman and Mrs. William B.
Fowler served as vice chairman. In 1935, the Riverside Drive project was dedicated. Costing nearly $1,000,000
(largely WPA funds) the City Beautiful Commission landscaped the bluffs with crape myrtle, redbuds,
magnolias, dogwoods and Paul Scarlet roses. White roses were planted at each guardrail post. In 1936, Mrs.
William B. Fowler became chairman of the City Beautiful Commission and served for many years. City
Beautiful grew under her leadership and soon had to relocate to larger headquarters. Through the efforts of City
Beautiful, Memphis gained the title of cleanest city in Tennessee in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945 and
1946. Memphis also received the Ernest T. Trigg “Nation’s Cleanest City” award in 1948, 1949, 1950 and
1951. During this time, volunteers were organized into Wards and Block Clubs with Ward Chairmen and Block
Captains. The City Beautiful staff grew to include 30 inspectors by 1954 who worked through these
organizations to identify and improve eyesores. Memphis participated with the National Clean-Up, Paint-Up,
Fix-Up Beautification Bureau headquartered in Washington, D.C.[1][2][3] In 1978, the Commission was
reorganized, eliminating the field inspectors. In February 1989, the Commission moved to its present location
at The Massey House in Victorian Village, Memphis.

Palos Verdes Estates

In the 1920s, Palos Verdes Estates, California was established as a master planned community by noted
American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The community was designed as a "City Beautiful."[11]
Among its earliest structures were the buildings comprising Malaga Cove Plaza which were designed in a
Mediterranean Revival style popular with the City Beautiful movement.

In Australia
Both European and North American cities provided models for the Australian City Beautiful movement. A
combination of elements about 1900 also influenced the movement:

It was thought that Australia, being a country that was relatively newly settled by Europeans, had wasted
an opportunity to design cities comprehensively and aesthetically.[12]
Australian cities were seen as lacking beauty and civic pride.[12]
The lack of architectural features, and extensive street advertising, were also concerns. This was
attributed to “materialism, apathy, short-sightedness, political interference and indifference”.[13]
Utopian city plans were another influence on the Australian City Beautiful movement. A better Brisbane,
for example, was described by Louis Esson and illustrated by Lloyd Rees with a Parisian influence.[13]

However, City Beautiful was not solely concerned with aesthetics. The term ‘beautility’ derived from the
American city beautiful philosophy, which meant that the beautification of a city must also be functional.
Beautility, including the proven economic value of improvements, influenced Australian town planning.[12]

There were no formal city beautiful organisations that led this movement in Australia; rather it was influenced
by communications among professionals and bureaucrats, in particular architect-planners and local government
reformers.[12] In the early Federation era some influential Australians were determined that their cities be
progressive and competitive. Adelaide was used as an Australian example of the “benefits of comprehensive
civic design” with its ring of parklands. Beautification of the city of Hobart, for example, was considered a way
to increase the city’s popularity as a tourist destination.[12]

Canberra

Walter Burley Griffin incorporated City Beautiful principles for his design for Canberra.[12] Griffin was
influenced by Washington “with grand axes and vistas and a strong central focal point”[14] with specialised
centres and, being a landscape architect, used the landscape to complement this layout.[15] John Sulman,
however, was Australia's "leading proponent" of the City Beautiful movement and, in 1921, wrote the book An
Introduction to Australian City Planning.[14] Both the City Beautiful and the Garden City philosophies were
represented by Sulman’s “geometric or contour controlled” designs of the circulatory road systems in Canberra.
The widths of pavements were also reduced and vegetated areas were increased, such as planted road
verges.[16]

Melbourne
Melbourne’s grid plan was considered dull and monotonous by some people, and so the architect William
Campbell designed a blueprint for the city. The main principle behind this were diagonal streets, providing sites
for new and comprehensive architecture and for special buildings. The designs of Paris and Washington were
major inspirations for this plan.[13]

City Beautiful in Australia today

World War I prolonged the City Beautiful movement in Australia, as more memorials were erected than in any
other country. Although City Beautiful, or artistic planning, became a part of comprehensive town planning, the
Great Depression of the 1930s largely ended this fashion.[13] Now, however, in Australia, many streets are tree-
lined and streetscapes and skylines are regulated. This was largely a result of the City Beautiful philosophy.

See also
Defensible space
Garden city movement
Mira Lloyd Dock and the Progressive Era Conservation Movement

References
Notes

1. Daniel M. Bluestone, Columbia University, (September 1988).Detroit's City Beautiful and the Problem
of Commerce (http://www.jstor.org/pss/990300) Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol.
XLVII, No. 3, pp. 245-62.
2. Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House, 1961), p.375;
quoted in Rybczynski, Witold. City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World New York: Scribner, 1995.
p.27. ISBN 0-684-81302-5.
3. Marter, Joan M. The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Vol. 1. pp. 602-03. Oxford UP, 2011.
4. https://usp100detroit.wordpress.com/city-beautiful/
5. http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/history-of-the-mystery/Content?oid=2179308
6. Rybczynski, Witold. City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World New York: Scribner, 1995. p135.
ISBN 0-684-81302-5.
7. Arnstein & Lehr, The First 120 Years (Amazon), pp 11 and 12
8. Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1913
9. Wilson, William H. (1989). The City Beautiful Movement. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University
Press. pp. 126–146. ISBN 0801837588.
10. Chambliss, Julian (2010). "Perfecting Space: J. Horace McFarland and the American Civic Association".
Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 77 (4): 486–497.
11. Gates THE PALOS VERDES RANCH PROJECT: Olmsted Brothers' Design Development For A
Picturesque Los Angeles Suburban Community Of The 1920s Available at
http://corbu2.caed.kent.edu/architronic/v6n1/v6n1.03a.html
12. Freestone R (2000) From city improvement to the city beautiful; chapter 2. In: Hamnett S and Freestone
R (eds) The Australian Metropolis: A Planning History. Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
13. Freestone R (2007) Designing Australia’s cities. UNSW Press, Kensington, pp. 45–79.
14. Stelter GA (2000) Rethinking the significance of the City Beautiful idea. In; Freestone R, Urban planning
in a changing world: The twentieth century experience. Taylor & Francis, pp. 98–117.
15. Banks JCG, Bracks CL (2003) Canberra’s urban forest: evolution and planning for future landscapes.
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 1(3), 151-160.
16. Ward A (2000) Assessment of Garden City planning principles in the ACT. Environment ACT, Heritage
Unit, Canberra. Available at
http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/13177/gardencity.pdf (verified 18 May 2009).

External links
 University of Virginia: The City Beautiful movement
Monument Avenue
Denver Public Library: Denver, The City Beautiful
Thomas Mawson's plan for the City of Calgary, Canada
Fulton Heights Neighborhood
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - City Beautiful Movement

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