This week’s song/ video is on Daniel Burnham, the great architect/ city planner of Chicago Illinois.
My cousin Bill Higgins who graduated from the University of Illinois in City Planning and Policy, suggested doing a post on Daniel Burnham a few weeks back. After reading about him I was extremely interested/ enlightened and I decided to write a song about him.
Daniel Burnham was born in Henderson New York and was raised in Chicago Illinois. After a stint in politics Daniel took an apprenticeship under William LeBaron Jenney. He quickly caught on and began designing some of the most famous buildings in Chicago. Today his work is studied at universities and can be seen not only in Chicago but in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, New York and even overseas. He and his partner John Wellborn Root are known for building the tallest building of their time; the Masonic Temple Building reaching 22 stories in 1892.
He was an author and helped draft the “Plan of Chicago” which was the first comprehensive plan for the “City Beautiful” movement in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
I will be the first to admit, this is not my best song… For some reason the creative juices were not flowing this week but I hope you will still be able to learn a little bit about this incredible man.
Let me know what you think by adding your comments below.
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