DANIEL HUDSON BURNHAM Fair was interpreted as not only a lesson in

architecture, but also an object in city planning

LIFE  Fair was judged to have provided and artistically and
Born on September 4, 1846 in morally uplifting environment.
Henderson, New York  1909 Plan of Chicago (Burnham Plan)
 Son of Elizabeth and Edward  Considered as the landmark in urban planning
Burnham  Draws on European precedents, especially on Baron
 Sixth of the seven children Haussmann’s Paris and Beaux-Arts
 Was raised under the teachings  Improvement of lakefront
of the Swedenborg, a Church of  A regional highway system
New Jerusalem
 Improvement of railway terminals
 Married Margaret Sherman, they
had 2 sons Hubert and Daniel Jr.  New outer parks
 Died on June 1, 1912 in Heidelberg, Germany while on a  Systematic arrangement of streets
research because of diabetes  Civic and cultural centers
AS AN ARCHITECT
CITY PLANNING
 A rational man – maximizes utility and satisfaction
 Truly concerned with the function Aspects of public service, beauty and the importance of
 Possessed supreme leadership skills the plan came together in Burnham’s city planning
 Had faith in the transcendent power of beauty and art and  Almost all his city plans were done as public service,
how it affects the human good offering his time and expertise without compensation
CAREER  Burnham invested city plans with the mystical significance
-- Swedenborg
Burnham found his career rather accidentally, after trying and failing  Burnham’s commitment to city planning as an act of
at a variety of kinds of work as a young man. His introduction to the architecture is evident in his belief in the beauty of plan
architecture profession, through his job in William Le Baron Jenney’s BURNHAM’S CHARACTER
office, turned him toward the career in which he would make his  Frank Lloyd Wright on Burnham
mark. Because of his enthusiasm for the profession and his good  Burnham “was not a creative architect,” but he was a
drafting skills, Burnham went on in 1872 to a position as draftsman “great man who made masterful use of the methods and
at the firm of Carter, Drake, and Wight. men of his time” and that as an “enthusiastic promoter of
great construction enterprises…his powerful personality
There, Burnham met John Wellborn Root, a fellow draftsman at the was supreme.”
firm. In 1873, they created a partnership and established their own  Professor Thomas Hines
architectural firm. Root was creative and versatile while Burnham  “I discovered that there was a sensitivity that was part of
was practical and made sure the business stayed profitable. the both insecurity and the compensation for the
insecurity that allowed him, pushed himself to other
In 1893, Burnham achieved a kind of triumph, the design and ways.”
building of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where he  Louis Sullivan on Burnham
was a prime organizer and chief of construction. In this fair he  “A sentimentalist, a dreamer, a man of fixed
changed his career as an architect. determination and strong will.. of large, wholesome
effective presence…” Sullivan recognized Burnham as an
By the time of Burnham's death in 1912, he had designed or helped exemplary man of the age of rising American economic
to design over 100 major projects throughout the world. But by this and political power.
time, American architecture had turned in a new direction. CRITICS ON BURNHAM - Burnham himself was condemned for
having been led astray by Beaux-Arts classicism and abandoning the
WORKS
road to modernism
 Montauk Building
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS OF BURNHAM
 new type of footing, consisting of
a broad slab of concrete  Art Institute of Chicago
reinforced with iron rails and  Instrument for establishing American Academy in Rome
noteworthy for its fireproofing  President of the American Institute of Architects
system  President of the Armenian Institute of Architects
 Created a new urban scale for commercial structures  Received Architectural degrees from Yale and Harvard University
 Rookery Building  Designed the city of San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Manila
 Root was responsible for the
building's Romanesque Revival
exterior, which exhibits historical
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and
references to Roman, Byzantine,
and Moorish stylistic elements: probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high
round arches, rooftop turrets, and, in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once
massive rusticated stone walls recorded will not die.”
 Burnham's engineering expertise led architect Thomas
Tallmadge to write that the Rookery was "an Bibliography:
architectural tour de force...the problem of
Rocheleau, Schaffer Tilden. (2003). Daniel H. Burnham: Visionary Architect
arrangement of light courts, of corridors, of stairs, and
and Planner. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc.
the divisions of offices were here for the first time
intelligently solved." Chan, R. (2011, February). Letter to Burnham. Retrieved August 2, 2011
 1893 World’s Columbian from http://EzineArticles.com/5869406
Exposition
 The concept called for a Videos and Clips from the movie Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and
plan suggesting permanent the American City Retrieved July 29, 2011 from
http://thearchimediaworkshop.org/burnhamfilm
buildings of a monumental
scale--a dream city CRUZ, Mary Grace A.
 Possessed a Beaux-Art form of architecture