Daniel Burnham in the Philippines

Exhibit :

In the winter of 1904-1905, Chicago architect and future co-author of the Plan of Chicago Daniel Burnham traveled to the Philippines.  He had won a commission from the United States government to develop a new city plan for Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and to create a city plan for a completely new "summer capital," Baguio City, 155 miles to the north of Manila and 5,000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Luzon.  The United States gained possession of the Philippines in 1898 as part of its treaty with Spain at the end of the Spanish American War.  The US government in the Philippines determined to assert its authority over its new colony and hoped that Burnham's plans would set an appropriate imperial and at the same time, progressive, tone.  Burnham eagerly solicited the project and set out for Asia in October 1904. 

This exhibition places Burnham's visit to the Philippines in an historical context that reveals several sometimes conflicting processes at play.  First, Filipino nationalists' ongoing struggle for Philippine independence and, second, the American's desire to assert control over its new colony politically, economically and, to some extent, culturally.  The Philippines Burnham encountered, and the plans he created, are the focus of this exhibition.