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Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the Beaux-Arts movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ever produced."
A successful Chicago architect, he was selected as Director of Works for the 1892–93 World's Columbian Exposition, colloquially referred to as "The White City". He had prominent roles in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including the Plan of Chicago, and plans for Manila, Baguio and downtown Washington, D.C. He also designed several famous buildings, including a number of notable skyscrapers in Chicago, the Flatiron Building of triangular shape in New York City, Washington Union Station in Washington D.C., London's Selfridges department store, and San Francisco's Merchants Exchange.
Although best known for his skyscrapers, city planning, and for the White City, almost one third of Burnham's total output – – consisted of buildings for shopping.Graham, Wade (2016) Dream Cities: Seven Urban Ideas That Shape the World New York: Harper Perennial. p.207
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Norton-Burhnam House, National Register of Historic Places Registration, National Park Service, January 8, 2016 He was raised in the teachings of the Swedenborgian, also called "The New Church" which ingrained in him the strong belief that man should strive to be of service to others.Carl Smith, The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, p. 56 At the age of eight, Burnham moved to Chicago and his father established there a wholesale drug business which became a success.Larson (2003), p.19
Burnham was not a good student, but he was good at drawing. He moved to the eastern part of the country at the age of 18 to be taught by private tutors in order to pass the admissions examinations for Harvard and Yale University, failing both apparently because of a bad case of test anxiety. In 1867, when he was 21 he returned to Chicago and took an apprenticeship as a draftsman under William LeBaron Jenney of the architectural firm Loring & Jenney. Architecture seemed to be the calling he was looking for, and he told his parents that he wanted to become "the greatest architect in the city or country".
Nevertheless, the young Burnham still had a streak of wanderlust in him, and in 1869 he left his apprenticeship to go to Nevada with friends to try mining gold, at which he failed. He then ran for the Nevada state legislature and failed to be elected. Broke, he returned again to Chicago and took a position with the architect L. G. Laurean. When the Great Chicago Fire hit the city in October 1871, it seemed as if there would be endless work for architects, but Burnham chose to strike out again, becoming first a salesman of plate glass windows, then a druggist. He failed at the first and quit the second. He later remarked on "a family tendency to get tired of doing the same thing for very long".
In 1881, the firm was commissioned to build the Montauk Building, the tallest building in Chicago at the time. To solve the problem of the city's water-saturated sandy soil and bedrock below the surface, Root came up with a plan to dig down to a "hardpan" layer of clay on which was laid a thick pad of concrete overlaid with steel rails placed at right-angles to form a lattice "grill", which was then filled with Portland cement. This "floating foundation" was, in effect, artificially-created bedrock on which the building could be constructed. The completed building was so tall compared to existing buildings that it defied easy description, and the name "skyscraper" was coined to describe it. Thomas Talmadge, an architect and architectural critic said of the building, "What Chartres was to the Gothic cathedral, the Montauk Block was to the high commercial building."Larson (2003) pp.24-25
Burnham and Root went on to build more of the first American skyscrapers, such as the Masonic Temple Building in Chicago. Measuring 21 stories and 302 feet, the temple held claims as the tallest building of its time, but was torn down in 1939.
The talents of the two partners were complementary. Both men were artists and gifted architects, but Root had a knack for conceiving elegant designs and was able to see almost at once the totality of the necessary structure. Burnham, on the other hand, excelled at bringing in clients and supervising the building of Root's designs. They each appreciated the value of the other to the firm. Burnham also took steps to ensure their employees were happy: he installed a gym in the office, gave fencing lessons and let employees play handball at lunch time. Root, a pianist and organist, gave piano recitals in the office on a rented piano. Paul Starrett, who joined the office in 1888 said "The office was full of a rush of work, but the spirit of the place was delightfully free and easy and human in comparison to other offices I had worked in."Larson (2003) pp.26-27
Although the firm was extremely successful, there were several notable setbacks. One of their designs, the Grannis Block in which their office was located, burned down in 1885 necessitating a move to the top floor of Rookery Building, another of their designs. Then, in 1888, a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel they had designed collapsed during construction, killing one man and injuring several others. At the coroner's inquest, the building's design came in for criticism. The negative publicity shook and depressed Burnham. Then in a further setback, Burnham and Root also failed to win the commission for design of the giant Auditorium Building, which went instead to their rivals, Adler & Sullivan.Larson (2003) pp.29-30
On January 15, 1891, while the firm was deep in meetings for the design of the World's Columbian Exposition, Root died after a three-day course of pneumonia. As Root had been only 41 years old, his death stunned both Burnham and Chicago society.Larson (2003), pp.104-108 After Root's death, the firm of Burnham and Root, which had had tremendous success producing modern buildings as part of the Chicago School of architecture, was renamed D.H. Burnham & Company. After that the firm continued its successes and Burnham extended his reach into city design.
Considered the first example of a comprehensive planning document in the nation, the fairground featured grand , classical building , and lush . Often called the "White City," it popularized neoclassical architecture in a monumental, yet rational Beaux-Arts style. As a result of the fair's popularity, architects across the U.S. were said to be inundated with requests by clients to incorporate similar elements into their designs.
The control of the fair's design and construction was a matter of dispute between various entities, particularly the National Commission which was headed by George R. Davis, who served as Director-General of the fair. It was also headed by the Exposition Company which consisted of the city's leading merchants, led by Lyman Gage which had raised the money needed to build the fair, and Burnham as Director of Works. In addition the large number of committees made it difficult for construction to move forward at the pace needed to meet the opening day deadline.Larson (2003), pp.119-120 After a major accident which destroyed one of the fair's premiere buildings, Burnham moved to take tighter control of construction, distributing a memo to all the fair's department heads which read "I have assumed personal control of the active work within the grounds of the World's Columbian Exposition... Henceforward, and until further notice, you will report to and receive orders from me exclusively."Larson (2003), p.178
After the fair opened, Olmsted, who designed the fairgrounds, said of Burnham that "too high an estimate cannot be placed on the industry, skill and tact with which this result was secured by the master of us all."Larson (2003), p.283 Burnham himself rejected the suggestion that Root had been largely responsible for the fair's design, writing afterwards:
What was done up to the time of his death was the faintest suggestion of a plan... The impression concerning his part has been gradually built up by a few people, close friends of his and mostly women, who naturally after the Fair proved beautiful desired to more broadly identify his memory with it.Larson (2003), p.377
In 1901, Burnham designed the Flatiron Building in New York City, a trailblazing structure that utilized an internal steel skeleton to provide structural integrity; the exterior masonry walls were not load-bearing. This allowed the building to rise to 22 stories.Terranova, Antonino (2003) Skyscrapers White Star Publishers. The design was that of a vertical Renaissance palazzo with Beaux-Arts styling, divided like a Classical order, into base, shaft and capital. "Flatiron Building" on Destination 360Gillon, Edmund Vincent (photographs) and Reed, Henry Hope (text). Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York: A Photographic Guide New York: Dover, 1988. p. 26
Other Burnham post-fair designs included the Land Title Building (1897) in Philadelphia, the first major building in that city not designed by local architects, and known as "the finest example of early skyscraper design" there, John Wanamaker's Department Store (1902–1911) in Philadelphia, now Macy's, which is built around a central court, Wanamaker's Annex (1904, addition: 1907–1910), in New York City, a 19-story full-block building which contains as much floorspace as the Empire State Building, the neo-classical Gimbels Department Store (1908–1912) also in New York, now the Manhattan Mall, with a completely new facade, the stunningly Art Deco Mount Wilson Observatory in the hills above Pasadena, California, and Filene's Department Store (1912) in Boston, the last major building designed by Burnham.
Building off plans and conceptual designs from the World's Fair for the south lakefront, Burnham envisioned Chicago as a "Paris on the Prairie". French-inspired public works constructions, fountains and boulevards radiating from a central, domed municipal palace became Chicago's new backdrop. Though only parts of the plan were actually implemented, it set the standard for urban design, anticipating the future need to control urban growth and continuing to influence the development of Chicago long after Burnham's death.
In Washington, D.C., Burnham did much to shape the 1901 McMillan Plan which led to the completion of the overall design of the National Mall. The Senate Park Commission, or McMillan Commission established by Michigan Senator James McMillan, brought together Burnham and three of his colleagues from the World's Columbian Exposition: architect Charles Follen McKim, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Going well beyond Pierre L'Enfant's original vision for the city, the plan provided for the extension of the Mall beyond the Washington Monument to a new Lincoln Memorial and a "pantheon" that eventually materialized as the Jefferson Memorial. This plan involved significant reclamation of land from swamp and the Potomac River and the relocation of an existing railroad station, which was replaced by Burnham's design for Washington Union Station.Movie: "Make No Little Plans" As a result of his service on the McMillan Commission, in 1910 Burnham was appointed a member and first chairman of the United States Commission of Fine Arts helping to ensure implementation of the McMillan Plan's vision. Burnham served on the commission until his death in 1912.Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 541.
Burnham is famously quoted as saying, "Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized." This slogan has been taken to capture the essence of Burnham's spirit.Abbot, Willis J. (January 18, 1927) "How Chicago Is Making Its Vision of Civic Splendor a Reality Is Told by Man Who Led in Project That Proves Economic Value of 'Mere Beauty'; Story of Commercial City's Education in Aesthetics Recited by Charles H. Wacker; Chicago Plan Commission's Former Head Shows How Transformation Has Been Wrought - Ideal Improvements, Once Pictured, Became Visible Goals of Community Endeavor - Were Even Taught In Schools" The Christian Science Monitor. p.8Moore, Charles (1921) Daniel H. Burnham, Architect, Planner of Cities. Boston, Houghton Mifflin. Volume 2: Chapter XXV: "Closing in 1911-1912"
A man of influence, Burnham was considered the pre-eminent architect in America at the start of the 20th century. He held many positions during his lifetime, including the presidency of the American Institute of Architects. Other notable architects began their careers under his aegis, such as Joseph W. McCarthy. Several of his descendants have worked as influential architects and planners in the United States, including his son, Daniel Burnham Jr., and grandchildren Burnham Kelly and Margaret Burnham Geddes.
Burnham and Margaret remained married for the rest of his life. They had five children—two daughters and three sons—including Daniel Burnham Jr., born in February 1886,Larson (2003), p.28 who became an architect and urban planner like his father. He worked in his father's firm until 1917, and served as the Director of Public Works for the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, known as the "Century of Progress".
The Burnham family lived in Chicago until 1886, when he purchased a 16-room farmhouse and estate on Lake Michigan in the suburb of Evanston, Illinois.Rodkin, Dennis (November 8, 2010) "Evanston House Occupies Former Daniel Burnham Estate" Chicago Real EstateBullington, Jonathan (April 30, 2009) "Home in Evanston Fills My Longing Daniel Burnhams Evanston" Chicago TribuneRodkin, Dennis, (May 10, 2016) "Historical Evanston mansion coming on market at $5.3 million" Crain's Chicago Business Burnham had become wary of Chicago which he felt was becoming dirtier and more dangerous as its population increased. Burnham explained to his mother, whom he did not tell of the move in advance, "I did it, because I can no longer bear to have my children on the streets of Chicago..." When Burnham moved into "the shanty" in Jackson Park to better supervise construction of the fair, his wife, Margaret and their children remained in Evanston.Larson (2003), p.128
On April 14, 1912, Burnham and his wife were aboard the RMS Olympic of the White Star Line, traveling to Europe to tour Heidelberg, Germany. When he attempted to send a telegram to his friend Frank Millet who was traveling the opposite direction, from Europe to the United States, on the RMS Titanic, he learned that the ship had sunk in an accident and Millet did not survive. Burnham died only 47 days laterLarson (2003), pp.3-7,389-90 from colitis complicated by his diabetes and food poisoning from a meal eaten in Heidelberg.Staff (June 2, 1912) "Daniel Burnham, Architect, Dead" Chicago Tribune
At the time of his death, D.H. Burnham and Co. was the world's largest architectural firm. Even legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, although strongly critical of Burnham's Beaux Arts European influences, still admired him as a man and eulogized him, saying: "Burnham made masterful use of the methods and men of his time...As an enthusiastic promoter of great construction enterprises...his powerful personality was supreme." The successor firm to Burnham's practice was Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, which continued in some form until 2006. "Burham in Evanston Talk" The Burnham Plan Centennial Burnham was interred at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.Lancelot, Barbara (1988) A Walk Through Graceland Cemeter Chicago: Chicago Architecture Foundation. pp. 34-35
In addition, the Reliance Building in Chicago which was designed by Burnham and Root, is now the Hotel Burnham, although Root was the primary architect before his death in 1891.
==Notable commissions==
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