THE INSURANCE EXCHANGE. The View from Google Earth

Reading late nineteenth century poetry, I am sometimes teased into believing that Frederick Tuckerman, for example, is speaking directly to me. The Elizabethans, too, seem to have that capability. But we should remember that Art of any kind lives as perceived. And that there are inherent and unknown differences that will always separate us from "the original."

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And so, while I may study Daniel Burnham's development of style and ornament, it may well be that style was not the primary thing on Burnham's mind. GOOGLE EARTH , in one easy sweep, shows Burnham's work (and his immediate successors) in Chicago not to be the solid presence perceived from the street, but instead a series of voids enclosed within each building's mass. Repeatedly. Across the Loop. The Insurance Exchange (above, left). Illinois Merchants Bank. 208 South LaSalle. The Rookery. People's Gas Light and Coke. The Straus Bank. The Marshall Field Annex. Union Station. The Conway Building. And each of these "voids" or "light wells" was used as an opportunity for a major interior public space. A public piazza or piano nobile with uses ranging from banking to retail. Each building also included a secondary public pedestrian system connecting street to street and in some cases building to building. The richness of the combined impact of these interior public spaces and walkways cannot be over-estimated. Below is a photograph of the original public space of the People's Gas Light and Coke Building (which will be the subject of later posts). Scroll down to see the original rendering of the Insurance Exchange (post dated July 26). Stop by the ArchiCenter to see Burnham's Public Space at the Railway Exchange. Take another look at the Rookery. The similarities of planning between each of these varying projects overshadow their differences of style.

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It may not be the classically stylized architecture that puts distance between us and Daniel Burnham. It is reliable electric lighting and air conditioning that have eliminated the necessity of lightwells, and the security requirements of 9.11 that have precluded the concept of Interior Public Space. Burnham spoke to another generation. Another time.

That we measure Burnham's architecture within today's limited understanding speaks less of Burnham's architectural capabilities than our own incomplete knowledge.

Credits are due Google Earth for their astonishing aerial views of the Loop and Karen Schaffer's highly recommended book "Daniel Burnham, Visionary and Planner", page 189. (and don't overlook Paul Rocheleau's stunning architectural photography).