D. H. Burnham in Buffalo, NY
Click on illustrations for larger size
Daniel Hudson Burnham
1846-1912J. W. Root
1850-1891
Dana Brooks
Daniel H. Burnham, Joseph Ellicott, and The Ellicott Square BuildingRaised and educated in Chicago, Daniel Hudson Burnham gained his early architectural experience with William Le Baron Jenney, the so-called "father of the skyscraper." In 1873, Burnham formed a partnership with John Wellborn Root (1850-1891). Three of their Chicago buildings were designated landmarks in 1962: The Rookery (1886) and the Reliance Building (1890), both using skeleton frame construction, and the Monadnock Building (1891), the last and tallest (16-story) American Masonry skyscraper.
Burnham's forte was organization and administration. He was the businessman of the firm, of which Root was the designer.When Burnham became chief of construction for the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893), Root was appointed chief consulting architect. When Root died in 1891, that position also went to Burnham, who selected as principal architects firms from the eastern United States working in academic eclecticism -- the antithesis of the New Chicago school of commercial architecture. The "White City" that resulted, with its boulevards, gardens, and buildings with classical facades, influenced planning in the United States.The Beaux Arts style was popularized during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. One outgrowth of the Expo was the reform movement advocated by Daniel Burnham: the City Beautiful Movement.
Following Root's death in 1891, the firm became known as D.H. Burnham and Co. Its design output continued to be prodigious, including department stores (Marshall Field's) and office buildings (Ellicott Square Building, Buffalo)
Importance
Burnham was an American architect and city planner whose plan for Chicago anticipated by 30 years the need for planning and development on a metropolitan area basis. He served as president of the American Institute of Architects in 1894 and was asked to prepare plans for several cities, including Cleveland, San Francisco, and Baltimore. In 1905, on the request of the U.S. government, he drew up plans for cities in the Philippines, including Manila.
His Plan for Chicago (1907-09), prepared with Edward H. Bennett, and popularly referred to as the Burnham Plan, is a classic example of American city planning. Farsighted in many ways, it provided for a ring of forest preserves in outlying areas and along the city's lakefront to ensure a future green belt against an anticipated population explosion. The Burnham Plan was used for many years as the basis for city planning in Chicago.
Burnham is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.
Sources:
- Thomas S. Hines, "Burnham of Chicago, Architect and Planner," 1974
- Chicago Landmarks
Color photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
..| ...Home Page ...| ..Buffalo Architecture Index...| ..Buffalo History Index...| .. E-Mail ...| ..
