The Burnham Plan Centennial - Bold Plans, Big Dreams

Calendar & Projects

Public Programs

Exhibit : Saturday, November 8, 2008 to Monday, January 19, 2009

BURNHAM 2.0: A Composite Plan for the High Speed Rail City

Chicago Architectural Club

One of the most imposing challenges Chicago will face in the 21st century is mobility—finding faster, more efficient, and more sustainable ways to move people and materials.

Exhibit : Saturday, March 7, 2009 to Sunday, May 31, 2009

City Beautiful Art Installations

Greater North Michigan Avenue Association

Celebrate spring with an architectural spin during the sixth annual Tulips on the Magnificent Mile celebration. Six renowned artists and architecture firms have designed original public art installations highlighting architecture and celebrating Burnham's City Beautiful plan for Chicago. The exhibit features six sculptures in varying in size and function situated among the vibrant tulip beds on the west side of North Michigan Avenue. [MORE]

Exhibit : Thursday, March 26, 2009 to Monday, June 8, 2009

Burnham Streetscape

Chicago Loop Alliance

The Chicago Loop Association's inaugural Streetscape program for 2009 highlights Daniel Burnham’s historic vision for Chicago. An engaging installation of artistic and creative works along State Street—utilizing planters, banners, light posts and El station entrances—covers nine blocks from Congress Parkway to Wacker Drive. The installations celebrate, beautify and activate the Loop while celebrating the major Burnham events and exhibitions during 2009.
 
Presented in conjunction with Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum [MORE]

Exhibit : Tuesday, May 19, 2009 to Thursday, July 8, 2010

Deep Roots, Green Future: City Planning in Elgin

Gail Borden Public Library District

Many principles of the Chicago Plan were used when Burnham’s partner Edward Bennett formulated a plan for Elgin in 1917. Discover this plan and others that followed including the latest Elgin plan for sustainability.

Exhibit opening will be held Tuesday, May 19 at 6:30 p.m., Gail Borden Public Library. [MORE]

Exhibit : Wednesday, July 29, 2009 to Monday, September 28, 2009

Good Order and Consequent Beauty: Planning the Future of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

On July 4, 1909 the visionary planning document Plan of Chicago was publicly released by the Commercial Club and its authors Daniel H. Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. As the repository of both the Burnham and Bennett archival collections, the Libraries will celebrate the Plan's centennial by exhibiting letters, diaries, committee minutes, reports and photographs documenting the evolution of the planning concepts, the gathering of data for the plan, and the process of publishing the book. [MORE]

Exhibit : Friday, August 21, 2009 to Sunday, November 1, 2009

Burnham Memorial Competition Exhibit

AIA Chicago

This exhibit features David Woodhouse Architects' winning design and three-dimensional scale model for a proposed Burnham Memorial at a site on the Museum Campus just north of the Field Museum. DWA's design was one of 19 entries submitted by architectural firms throughout the country in the two-phase competition. [MORE]

Exhibit : Monday, August 24, 2009 to Monday, September 14, 2009

Building Your Place in Riverside

Riverside Public Library

To celebrate the Centennial of the Burnham Plan, Riverside residents and businesses will have the opportunity to become part of Olmsted's Plan of Riverside, by participating in a BIG MAP Project, which will be on display August 24 through September 14. [MORE]

Exhibit : Saturday, December 19, 2009 to Sunday, February 28, 2010

C.D. Arnold Photographs of the World's Columbian Exposition

Art Institute of Chicago

The first exhibition in the Art Institute's "Chicago Cabinet" series features highlights from the Ryerson Library’s archive of large platinum prints made by C. D. Arnold, the official photographer of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Chicago World’s Fair, as it is also known, attracted some 27 million people, or nearly half the population of the United States, to the city during its six-month run. [MORE]

The Burnham Plan Centennial
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