BURNHAM, DANIEL H(UDSON)

born Sept. 4, 1846, Henderson, N.Y., U.S. died June 1, 1912, Heidelberg, Ger. 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 was a pioneer with his partner, John Wellborn Root, in the development of Chicago commercial architecture, which emphasized steel frame construction; later he became identified with academic eclecticism. When Burnham was nine, his family moved to Chicago. After his high school education, he was apprenticed to the Chicago architectural firm Carter, Drake and Wight. There he met Root, and in 1873 they became partners. 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 eclecticismthe 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. Among his other commissions were the Flatiron Building, New York (1901); Union Station, Washington, D.C. (1909); Selfridge's Store, London (1909); and Filene's Store, Boston (1912). 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 (190709), 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. Thomas S. Hines, Burnham of Chicago, Architect and Planner, was published in 1974.