The Burnham Plan Centennial - Bold Plans, Big Dreams

Calendar & Projects

Conference; Symposium; Workshop; Seminar

Previous Events

October, 2008

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 7:00pm

Community Conversation: Downers Grove

Downers Grove Public Library

We strive to find ways to make our communities stronger and our residents more involved. This community conversation, co-hosted by Downers Grove Public Library and CMAP, will help the GOTO 2040 initiative identify issues, concerns and new ideas about the future of our region. [MORE]

November, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008 9:00am to 5:00pm

2nd Annual William O. Lipincki Symposium on Transportation Policy

Northwestern University

Northwestrn's Infrastructure Technology Institute will use the 100th anniversary of Daniel H. Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago as a vantage point, speakers and participants at the Symposium envisioned a future transportation system for the Chicago region to meet the accessibility, capacity, quality, and sustainability needs of our society and economy for the next century. The series of presentations and panel discussions identified current challenges facing transportation systems locally and nationally and explored avenues for change. [MORE]

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 6:30pm to 8:00pm

H2Oil: Mixing Oil and Water

Chicago History Museum

The opening event of the Illinois Humanities Council's year-long "All Consuming" series features Richard Heinberg—author of Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines and Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute—in conversation with Steve Edwards of Chicago Public Radio. [MORE]

January, 2009

Saturday, January 10, 2009 1:00pm to 4:00pm

The Breadth and Depth of the Burnham Plan

University of Chicago

This Graham School Course celebrates the 100th anniversary of Daniel H. Burnham’s Plan of Chicago. His vision of “Paris on the Prairie” was so influential that it continues to shape Chicago today. We will delve into Burnham’s philosophy, which forms the foundation of the Plan, and will look at other incarnations of the City Beautiful movement. [MORE]

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 6:00pm

Yours, Mine, Ours, or Theirs? Accessing and Controlling Oil and Water

Are oil and water resources to be stewarded and shared or commodities to be bought and sold? Does any person, country, or community own oil and water resources? How do the concepts of ownership and stewardship affect access to oil and water? What questions are raised by the privatization of resources?
  [MORE]

February, 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 7:00pm

Crosscurrents: Ethanol, Oil, and Water in Southern Illinois

Illinois Humanities Council

Ethanol shows promise as a replacement for fossil fuels, yet requires significant water and land resources to produce. What is the promise of ethanol and what are its limitations?  How does producing ethanol influence the supply and demand for water?
 
This program of the Illinois Humanities Council's year-long "All Consuming" series examines the environmental and ethical questions involved in increased ethanol production.
Panelists: [MORE]

March, 2009

Thursday, March 5, 2009 7:30am to 10:30am

The Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit and the Modern Cityscape

John Marshall Law School

In the 100 years following Burnham’s extraordinary plan, Chicago’s cityscape has evolved and has been modernized.  Throughout this modernization, efforts have been made by preservationists and real estate developers to preserve and rehabilitate the historic beauty of Chicago’s cityscape.  [MORE]

Thursday, March 5, 2009 11:15am to 12:25pm
Thursday, March 5, 2009 8:00am to 8:25am
Thursday, March 5, 2009 10:45am to 12:10pm
Thursday, March 5, 2009 2:00pm to 3:25pm
Thursday, March 5, 2009 3:45pm to 5:10pm

UAA 39th Annual Meeting

Urban Affairs Association

This is the first time the international meeting of the Urban Affairs Association has met in Chicago and it expects to attract up to 800 scholars from around the world. Under the conference theme Contesting and Sustaining the City: Neighborhood, Region, or World? the  UAA is offering a host of panels and colloquies on Chicago, the Burnham Plan and the future of our city and region. The public is cordially invited to attend the opening Plenary and any or all of the Chicago Track Session free of charge.

Friday, March 27, 2009 8:30am to 2:30pm

Professional Development Workshop for CPS Teachers

Burnham Plan Centennial Committee

The Burnham Plan Centennial in collaboration with the DePaul Center for Urban Education and the Chicago Public Schools Office of Literacy, Instruction and Assessment invites third- and eighth-grade and special education teachers to participate in a special day-long workshop that will help teachers to make the city itself a vital part of the curriculum. [MORE]

Friday, March 27, 2009 1:30pm to 3:00pm

Making No Small Plans in the New Economy

Judson University

Architect Andrés Duany is visiting the City of Elgin and Judson University for the first time to make a presentation titled “Making No Small Plans in the New Economy.” His presentation will be based on his firm's experience in and New Urbanism's commitment to building compact, sustainable, pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented communities. [MORE]

April, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Ben van Berkel Lecture

University of Illinois at Chicago

Ben van Berkel, the lead architect from UNStudio (Amsterdam) will be lecturing on his work. He is the architect of one of the two Burnham Pavilions appearing in Millennium Park this summer. This lecture is part of the Spring 2009 lecture series with the School of Architecture. [MORE]

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Community Conversation "Go to 2040": Bringing Watersheds into our Region's Bold Plans & Big Dreams

Lake County Stormwater Management Commission

The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission hosts a CMAP “Community Conversations” workshop for the Go to 2040 Plan in Lake County with a strong focus on water resource conservation and bringing watershed action plan recommendations into the regional 2040 plan. [MORE]

May, 2009

Friday, May 8, 2009 9:00am to 5:00pm

The City Revisited: Community and Community Action in the 21st Century

University of Chicago

Grounded in the work of the School of Social Service Administration’s forebears and Chicago School scholarship, this seminar will explore contemporary issues concerning community, community action, and community change. [MORE]

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 2:00pm to 5:00pm

A Window to the Future: Chicago Leaders Explore Adapting to Change

Leadership Greater Chicago

What changes can we anticipate in the Chicago area in the next decade? And how will Chicago adapt? Join our keynote speaker, expert panelists and LGC Fellows and friends as we look through the window to Chicago’s future.

Program and Speakers

Keynote  How do Regions Adapt to Change? A Framework for Thinking about Chicago’s Future   [MORE]

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Water: Sustaining our Blue Planet

Field Museum

Join us for a roundtable discussion on water, moderated by WGN radio host John Williams and featuring Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Peter Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars. This forum will explore how water issues are related to health, poverty, globalization, and climate change on local, regional, and global levels. During our Q & A, engage with the speakers to discuss solutions to these critical issues.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 to Saturday, August 8, 2009

Read Around Chicago: Children's Summer Reading Club

Glen Ellyn Public Library

Glen Ellyn library card holders and students of all Glen Ellyn schools are invited to participate in the 2009 Summer Reading Club.  Students in 5th Grade or Younger and students in 6th to 8th Grades keep track of the minutes they read or are read to by someone. Come in every week starting June 15 for a chance to win in special drawings. [MORE]

Thursday, May 28, 2009 6:15pm

Paris at the time of the Burnham Plan

Northwestern University

URBAN PLANS AND THEIR AGENDAS: ADMITTED, UNADMITTED AND UNNOTICED

Modernizing Paris: 18th, 19th, 20th Centuries

Organized by David van Zanten, Northwestern Professor of Art History.  Featuring Christian Topalov and Isabelle Backouche, Professors in the Urban History seminar of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences So­ciales, Paris.  Part of the department of art history’s “Elizabeth and Todd Warnock Lecture Series.” [MORE]

Friday, May 29, 2009 2:00pm to 5:00pm

Burnham, Chicago and Beyond: Politics, Planning and the Progressive Era City

Chicago Architecture Foundation

In 1909 Daniel Burnham publicized his project for an ideal city in his Plan of Chicago.  Sponsored by the Commercial Club, which included some of the city's most powerful business leaders, Burnham's plan represented the ideal city of the Progressive Era.  The Plan was Burnham's attempt to completely reform Chicago, both socially and architecturally, and its boldness has assured its place both as a model and source of controversy for urban planners ever since. [MORE]

June, 2009

Friday, June 5, 2009 9:00am to 5:00pm

Annual Conference

Transport Chicago

More than 200 academics, transportation and planning professionals, and others will gather in Chicago to learn of recent research and innovations in transportation and to debate current issues in planning and policy. Presentations will focus on transportation history, recently implemented projects and new ideas for transportation planning in the Chicago region.

Call for Papers  [MORE]

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Daniel Burnham: Urban Visionary

Chicago Architecture Foundation

By the mid-1880s Chicago was dealing with massive environmental and socail problems that threatened to make great parts of the city unlivable. Donald Miller, author of City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of Modern America will address Burnham's efforts to create an efficient urban community. He will examine how Burnham balanced order and freedom, growth and control, and capitalism and community to work to create a better metropolitan city.

Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Explore the White City: World's Fair Simulation

Museum of Science and Industry

Unless you’re a Chicago history buff, you may not know that the Columbian Exposition—also referred to as “The White City” or the World’s Fair of 1893—was a source of inspiration for Daniel Burnham’s audacious 1909 Plan of Chicago, which provided a vision of what a well-ordered and attractive city of the future could be. The Plan of Chicago has inspired generations of Chicagoans and city lovers worldwide. [MORE]

Friday, June 19, 2009 2:00pm to 3:30pm

The Burnham Pavilions Symposium

Art Institute of Chicago

The public is invited to join Burnham Pavilion architects and other key players for a panel discussion about these two iconic centerpieces of the Burnham Plan Centennial. Daniel Burnham looked to leading European cities such as Paris and Vienna for inspiration when creating his 1909 plan. [MORE]

Saturday, June 20, 2009 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Explore the White City: World's Fair Simulation

Museum of Science and Industry

Unless you’re a Chicago history buff, you may not know that the Columbian Exposition—also referred to as “The White City” or the World’s Fair of 1893—was a source of inspiration for Daniel Burnham’s audacious 1909 Plan of Chicago, which provided a vision of what a well-ordered and attractive city of the future could be. The Plan of Chicago has inspired generations of Chicagoans and city lovers worldwide. [MORE]

Monday, June 22, 2009 7:00pm

Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City

Wheaton Public Library

Join Carl Smith, Professor, Northwestern University for an illustrated talk, based on his prize-winning book on the Plan.  Part of the Make BIg Plans exhibit region-wide program series, Smith will describe this document's fascinating history and explain its central role in shaping Chicago and American city life.
  [MORE]

July, 2009

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:00pm

Planning Orland Park, Planning Chicago

Orland Park Public Library

“Make no little plans” was clearly the motto of Daniel Burnham and his partner Edward Bennett. Just what does it mean for Chicago's suburbs and specifically Orland Park? Join local architect Max Bianchini as he compares the planning of the buildings, transportation systems and green space of Orland Park and Chicago. [MORE]

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 noon

It All Flows Downstream: Following Our Oil and Water Footprints

Illinois Humanities Council

This program, held in conjunction with the Museum's Water exhibit, will examine the impact of oil and water consumption on our lives.  It is also part of the Illinois Humanities Council's year-long statewide series: All-Consuming: Conversations on Oil and Water. [MORE]

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Daniel Burnham Meets Vincent De Paul and Jane Addams

DePaul University

Century in Motion Festival:  Join us for a fascinating discussion about the spirit of public service evident in the work of Daniel Burnham, Jane Addams and St Vincent DePaul. In our roundtable conversation with DePaul professors Marco Tavanti and Alex Papadopolous and author Jan Metzger, we will explore ethical principles that underscored the work of Burnham, Addams and St Vincent. The event will be held at Cliff Dwellers Club, 200 S Michigan (22nd flr), which offers striking views of Grant Park.

Monday, July 20, 2009 7:00pm

From City Beautiful to City Green: Chicago and the Evolution of Its Regional Environment

Wheaton Public Library

In 1909 in the Plan of Chicago, Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett responded to large problems in the city and its region—problems that included the lack of public open and green spaces, and an ill-coordinated relationship of the city to its region.  Join panelists: Diane Dillon, The Newberry Library; Ann Durkin Keating, North Central College; and Joyce O’Keefe, Openlands, for a discussion about the aesthetic id [MORE]

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 12:15pm to 1:00pm

Edward H. Bennett: City Planner and Urban Designer

Chicago Architecture Foundation

Edward H. Bennet, junior partner in Daniel Burnham's architectural practice and co-author of The Plan of Chicago, was a key leader in the City Beautiful movement and a successful designer of urban amenities such as Buckingham Fountain. His career is documented in his archival collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, which forms the basis of this presentation.

Mary Woolever, Art and Architecture Archivist at the Art Institute of Chicago, will lead this presentation. [MORE]

August, 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009 11:00am to Sunday, August 9, 2009 10:00pm

The Legacy of Daniel Burnham, Architect and City Planner

Society of Architectural Historians

This three-day Study Tour will celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett's Plan of Chicago through an array of lectures, tours, and special evening events.  The tour will highlight Burnham and the plan in a variety of different guises:  imagined and realized, proposed and enacted, seen and unseen.  [MORE]

Thursday, August 13, 2009 9:00am to noon

Building for the Future: A Professional Development Workshop for Teachers

Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust

Preservation Trust education staff will join K-12 teachers in exploring the idea of engaging students with the built environment, both as it was done at the time of the Burnham Plan in 1909 through the use of the Wacker Manual, and as it is approached in schools and museums today.  Several educators who have completed successful standards-based projects in architecture, design, urban planning and the built environment will share their ideas, activities, challenges, and achievements.  Participants will then draw from this information and experience to develop a unit or le

Thursday, August 13, 2009 6:00pm

Not a Drop to Spare: Oil and Water Scarcity in Popular Culture

Columbia College Chicago

Resource scarcity is a common feature in post-apocalyptic scenarios. How has scarcity of water or oil resources been depicted in films and television programs and what do these depictions tell us about our concerns about these resources? How do they reflect the times in which they were produced?
  [MORE]

September, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009 9:00am to Monday, September 21, 2009 5:00pm

ASLA National Conference

American Society of Landscape Architects - Illinois Chapter

ASLA Illinois is serving as the local host to the 2009 ASLA annual meeting that will bring more than 5,000 participants to Chicago.  This year's conference is titled "Beyond Sustainability: Regenerating Places and People." The meeting will feature more than 125 education sessions, field sessions and tours spanning the four day conference.

The Chicago Hilton and Towers will serve as the hotel headquarters.  The conference itself will be held at McCormick Place. [MORE]

Monday, September 21, 2009 7:00pm to Wednesday, September 23, 2009 noon

Daniel Burnham Sustainability Conference

Forest Preserve District of Cook County

The public is invited to attend this conference commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Burnham Plan, which envisioned the creation of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County as the first system of its kind in the nation, now the largest urban conservation preserve in the country. The purpose of this conference is to share ideas and formulate strategies that enable Cook County to host the most sustainable forest preserve system in the nation. [MORE]

Thursday, September 24, 2009 8:30am to Saturday, September 26, 2009 noon

APA Upper Midwest Conference

American Planning Association - Illinois Chapter

Come join urban planners, architects, historic preservationists, and overall Burnham enthusiasts from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and beyond fo

October, 2009

Thursday, October 1, 2009 noon to 2:00pm

Law As Hidden Architecture

John Marshall Law School

Real estate analyst/zoning attorney Richard Roddewig gives a lunchtime multimedia presentation focusing on the seldom-told story of the Appendix at the back of the Burnham Plan. Titled “Legal Aspects of the Plan of Chicago,” the appendix expands upon the legal history related to implementation of the Plan since 1909. Interestingly, the legal Appendix is longer than any of the eight chapters in the Plan itself! [MORE]

Thursday, October 8, 2009 8:00am to 5:00pm

Context Sensitive Street Design: How Illinois is Responding to the Challeges and Opportunities

Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), Illinois Chapter

Learn the design side of context sensitive solutions for urban thoroughfares. Learn how to make them efficient, attractive and vibrant. Appreciate their ability to connect cities and neighborhoods to each other and understand how such ideals are echoed amidst the planned intentions of Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett 100 years ago as presented in the great Plan of Chicago. [MORE]

Saturday, October 10, 2009 8:30am to 1:00pm

Calumet Regionalism: Past and Future Conference

Calumet Heritage Partnership

Ann Durkin Keating, author of Chicagoland: City and Suburbs in the Railroad Age and Professor of History at North Central College, keynotes the 10th Annual Calumet Heritage Conference, a day of reflection on the theme of regionalism in the corner of Chicagoland known as the Calumet region.  Keating will be speaking on “Regionalism in Chicago Before the Burnham Plan." Rod Sellers -- historian, author and curator of an exhibit at the Southeast Chicago Historical Museum on “Burnham in the Calumet” -- revi [MORE]

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 5:00pm to 6:00pm

An International Perspective on Planning in 1909

American Planning Association - Chicago Metro Section

The same year Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett presented the Plan of Chicago to the City's Commercial Club, the British Parliament passed the first piece of legislation dealing with town planning. This shared centenary provides an opportunity to look at some of the different ways that urban planning has developed in the two nations and to see what lessons can be learned for the future of planning in a time of economic, social and environmental turbulence.
  [MORE]

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 1:00pm to 5:00pm

GreenTown: The Future of Community

Seven Generations Ahead

RiverKeeper founder Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., one of Time magazine's "Heroes for the Planet," will be the keynote speaker at this symposium featuring visionaries and seasoned professionals from around the country speaking on leading environmentally conscious topics and related sustainable initiatives.
Sessions include: [MORE]

Friday, October 23, 2009 7:30am to 10:00am

Burnham's Plan of Chicago: History or Inspiration?

Lambda Alpha International Ely Chapter

The Ely Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, the Honorary Society for the advancement of Land Economics, is proud to sponsor a public symposium discussing Burnham's influence on Chicago and throughout the world. An exceptional panel of visionary pragmatists will explore questions about 21st century urban development. [MORE]

November, 2009

Thursday, November 5, 2009 9:00am to 5:00pm

Infrastructures for Change Workshop

Archeworks

Keynote speaker Dr. Eric W. Sanderson — Senior Conservation Ecologist, Wildlife Conservation Society and author of The Mannahatta Project — kicks off a day-long workshop examining the process of change in our collective environments. [MORE]

Thursday, November 5, 2009 noon to Saturday, November 7, 2009 noon

Be Bold!: AIA Annual Conference

AIA Illinois

The annual American Institute of Architects Illinois Honor Awards Ceremony kicks off the AIA Annual Conference on the evening of Thursday, November 5. [MORE]

Thursday, November 5, 2009 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Chicago Nature & Wildlife Research Summit

Mayor Daley's Nature and Wildlife Committee

Mayor Daley’s Nature & Wildlife Advisory Committee is convening a Research Summit to identify priority research needs, connect researchers to land managers and policy makers, and imagine what a biodiversity research network would look like in the City of Chicago. The Research Summit, which is by invitation only, will be complimented by two early evening programs that expand the discussion to a broader public. [MORE]

Thursday, November 12, 2009 2:00pm

Geographical Memory: The 25th Anniversary of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Historic Corridor

Lewis University

From a historical perspective, the creation of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor represents historical revisionism that placed geography and the history of waterborne transportation at the center of local consciousness. The NHC concept has become a national trend that recovers a sense of place in the local and national context. [MORE]

Friday, November 20, 2009 8:00am to 9:30am

Jane Addams Symposium

Jane Addams Hull House Association

This breakfast workshop is the first of four Jane Addams symposia to take place over the next year. Janice Metzger, author of What Would Jane Say? City-Building Women and a Tale of Two Chicagos, will lead a candid discussion on how Chicago might be a different city today if Jane Addams and other leading women had been a part of the Burnham planning process. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with Ms. Metzger and to purchase an autographed copy of the book.
  [MORE]

Friday, November 20, 2009 1:15pm to 5:00pm

Water as a Resource: Impact on Real Estate Ownership, Development and Land Use Policy

John Marshall Law School

The Burnham Plan Centennial Kratovil Conference on Real Estate Law & Practice will explore the relationship between water scarcity and ownership of real estate in regions other than the American West. [MORE]

December, 2009

Saturday, December 5, 2009 2:00pm to 3:15pm

Explore the White City: World's Fair Simulation

Museum of Science and Industry

Unless you’re a Chicago history buff, you may not know that the Columbian Exposition—also referred to as “The White City” or the World’s Fair of 1893—was a source of inspiration for Daniel Burnham’s audacious 1909 Plan of Chicago, which provided a vision of what a well-ordered and attractive city of the future could be. The Plan of Chicago has inspired generations of Chicagoans and city lovers worldwide. [MORE]

Monday, December 7, 2009 noon to Tuesday, December 8, 2009 noon

Making Big Plans for the Centennial of the 1909 Plan of Chicago

Newberry Library

This "Chicago Teachers as Scholars" seminar — conducted by the Newberry's Make Big Plans exhibition co-curators James Akerman and Diane Dillon — offers a critical overview of the Plan of Chicago's central themes and its legacy.
  [MORE]

The Burnham Plan Centennial
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