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Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 - June 1,
1912) was born in Henderson, New York and raised
in Chicago, Illinois.  His parents brought him up
under the teachings of the Swedenborgian Church of
New Jerusalemhttp://www.newchurch.org/, which
ingrained in him the strong belief that man should
strive to be of service to others.  After failing
admissions tests for both Harvard and Yale, and an
unsuccessful stint at politics, Burnham
apprenticed as a draftsman under William LeBaron
Jenney.  At age 26, Burnham moved on to the
Chicago offices of Carter, Drake, and Wright,
where he met future business partner John Wellborn
Root  (1850-1891).  With his new partner, Burnham
would become the architect of the one of the first
American skyscrapers; the Masonic Temple
(Chicago)|Masonic Temple
Buildinghttp://patsabin.com/illinois/masonic.htm
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. Under the
design influence of Root, the firm had produced
modern buildings as part of the Chicago school
(architecture)|Chicago School.  Following
Root’s premature death at the hands of
pneumonia in 1891, the firm became known as D.H.
Burnham and Co. 


Burnham and Root had accepted responsibility to
oversee construction of the World Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, Illinois|Chicago’s
then-desolate Jackson Park on the south lakefront.
The largest world’s fair to that date, it
celebrated the 400-year anniversary of Christopher
Columbus’ famous voyage. After Root's death,
a team of distinguished American architects,
including Burnham, Frederick Law Olmstead, Charles
McKim and Louis Sullivan, radically changed Root's
modern and colorful style to a Classical Revival
style. Under Burnham's direction, the construction
of the Fair overcame huge financial and logistical
hurdles, including a worldwide financial panic and
an extremely tight timeframe, to open on time.   

Considered the first example of a comprehensive
planning document in the nation, the fairground
was complete with grand boulevards, classical
building facades, and lush gardens.  Often called
the "White City", it popularized neoclassical
architecture in a monumental and rational
Beaux-Arts plan.  The remaining population of
architects in the U.S. was soon asked by clients
to incorporate similar elements into their
designs.  



In 1909, Burnham and assistant Edward H. Bennett
prepared The Plan of Chicago, which laid out plans
for the future of the city. It was the first
comprehensive plan for the controlled growth of an
American city; an outgrowth of the City Beautiful
movement.  The plan included ambitious proposals
for the lakefront and river and declared that
every citizen should be within walking distance of
a park. Sponsored by the Commercial Club of
Chicagohttp://www.commercialclubchicago.org/,
Burnham donated his services in hopes of
furthering his own cause.  



Plans and conceptual designs of the south
lakefronthttp://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/i?amm
em/pan:@field(NUMBER+@band(pan+6a04088)):displayTy
pe=1:m856sd=pan:m856sf=6a04088 from the Exposition
came in handy, as he envisioned Chicago being 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.  The plan set
the standard for urban design, anticipating future
need to control unexpected urban growth. 

City planning projects did not stop at Chicago
though; Burnham helped shape cities such as
Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland, San Francisco,
California|San Francisco, Washington, DC, and
Manila in the Philippines.
Much of his career work modeled the classical
style of Greece and Rome.  In his 1924
autobiography, Louis Sullivan, considered by many
to be the greatest architect from the Chicago
School, chastised the late Burnham for his lack of
original expression and dependence on Classicism. 
Sullivan claimed the neoclassical example of the
World's Fair had "set back architecture fifty
years" -- corporate America thought differently.



Burnham may not have ever said the most famous
quote attributed to him: "Make no little plans. 
They have no magic to strike man's blood and
probably will themselves not be realized."  The
quote, however, captures Burnham's architectural
essence.

A man of influence, Burnham was considered the
preeminant architect in America at the turn of the
twentieth century.  He held many postitions during
his lifetime, including two-time president of the
American Institute of
Architectshttp://www.aia.org/.  In 1912, when he
passed away in Heidelberg, Germany, D.H. Burnham
and Co. was the world's largest architectural
firm.  Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright
eulogized, "(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."

Almost as a tribute to his urban planning ethos,
Burnham's final resting spot is given special
attention, being located on the only island in
Uptown,_Chicago|Uptown's park like
Graceland_Cemetery|Graceland Cemetery.



----

=== Notable Commissions ===


Chicago

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/U/UnionStock.ht
ml Union Stock Yard Gate

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/K/KentHouse.htm
l Kent House

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/R/RookeryBuildi
ng.html Rookery Building

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/M/Monadnock.htm
l Monadnock Block

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/R/RelianceBuild
ing.html Reliance Building

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/F/FisherBuildin
g.html Fisher Building

*http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/H/Heyworth.html
Heyworth Building


Others

*Flatiron Building

*Union Station (Washington, DC)

*Ford Building (Detroit, Michigan)

*Wyandotte Building (Columbus, Ohio)

*http://www.historiclandmarks.org/news/2005_10Most
/10most05-8.html Pennsylvania Railroad Station
(Richmond, Indiana)
----

=== References ===

*Chicago Landmarks: Daniel Burnham. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 21, 2004, from Web site:
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/Architects/Burnh
am.html
*Chicago Stories: Daniel Hudson Burnham. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 24, 2004, from Web site:
http://www.wttw.com/chicagostories/burnham.html
*Jameson, D. (n.d.). Artists Represented: Daniel
Hudson Burnham. Retrieved September 21, 2004, from
Web site:
http://www.architechgallery.com/arch_info/artists_
pages/burnham_bio.html
*Today In History. (n.d.) Retrieved September 24,
2004, from Library of Congress Web site:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep04.html
*The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and
Madness at the Fair that Changed America. by Erik
Larson (2003, Crown Publishers, New York, New
York)