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

$12.00

Format: Trade Paperback
202 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2006
ISBN-10: 0226764729
ISBN-13: 9780226764726

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Description

Arguably the most influential document in the history of urban planning, Daniel Burnham's 1909 'Plan of Chicago,' coauthored by Edward Bennett and produced in collaboration with the Commercial Club of Chicago, proposed many of the city's most distinctive features. Carl Smith's fascinating history reveals the 'Plan''s central role in shaping the ways people envision the cityscape and urban life itself.
His concise and accessible narrative begins with a survey of Chicago's stunning rise from a tiny frontier settlement to the nation's second-largest city. He then offers an illuminating exploration of the 'Plan''s creation and reveals how it embodies the renowned architect's belief that cities can and must be remade for the better. Smith points out the ways the 'Plan' continues to influence debates, even a century after its publication, about how to create a vibrant and habitable urban environment.
Richly illustrated and incisively written, this insightful book will be indispensable to our understanding of Chicago, Burnham, and the emergence of the modern city.
'An imaginative, beautifully produced, and visually appealing masterpiece of stirring prose and stunning illustration. . . . Carl Smith's book is a concise, splendidly accessible, and beautifully constructed introduction to a seminal work of American urban planning and its enduring influence on Chicago and other American cities.'--William Bryk, 'New York''Sun' Arguably the most influential document in the history of urban planning, Daniel Burnham's 1909 'Plan of Chicago,' proposed many of the city's most distinctive features. Carl Smith's fascinating history reveals how the 'Plan' defined the City Beautiful movement and was the first comprehensive attempt to reimagine a major American city. 62 halftones. 6 maps.