DANIEL BURNHAM. No Apologia.

Nat Owings and Louis Skidmore worked for Daniel Burnham Jr. and Hubert Burnham from 1929 to 1933. They became partners in 1936 and were joined by John Merrill in 1939 forming Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

In 1936 Charley (C.F.) Murphy and Sigurd Naess worked for Graham Anderson Probst and White,. In 1939 they became Murphy and Naess which ultimately became C. F. Murphy and Associates. Then Murphy/Jahn.

Two of the largest, most successful, and critically acclaimed architectural firms in Chicago share direct roots in Daniel Burnham's successor firms. Additionally consider the work of Edward Bennett at Bennett Parsons and Frost, Dwight Perkins, Peter Weber, Frederick Dinkelberg, and Karl Vitzhum. Each of these (and more) worked in Daniel Burnham's Office. The quality of Chicago Architecture is legendary. There is a reason.

_______________________________________________

If Daniel Burnham had failed after John Root's death. Or if his accomplishments were limited to the Rookery, the Montauk and the Monadnock -- I would give some credence to the opinion that Daniel Burnham was a great planner but not much of an architect. If the Columbian Exposition had not given prominent space to Sophia Hayden's truly elegant Women's Building, Louis Sullivan's arched Transportation Building, and Henry Ives Cobb's fantasy at the Fisheries, I would say that Daniel Burnham "sold out" to Beaux Arts But neither did Daniel Burnham fail, nor did he (and this term is subjective) sell out. (More below)

Daniel Burnham's second designer, Charles Atwood (albeit from New York) went on to work with D.H.Burnham and Company's very competent staff of Chicago Architects (after the Fair) to produce Chicago School masterpieces including the Reliance Building and the Fisher Building. After Atwood's death Chicago School work from Burnham's office continued: The Silversmith, the Heyworth, the Railway Exchange and the Butler Brothers' Warehouses. And let's not forget one more tradition that became evident during this period: the embrace of new technology.

Peirce Anderson, and Edward Bennett, Burnham's third and fourth designers, transitioned designs from regional Chicago School to the more Nationally and Internationally recognized Beaux Arts Style producing a list of Landmark Plans and Buildings. Bennett with Burnham was responsible for the 1909 Plan of Chicago. Anderson with Burnham was responsible for the Plan of Manila, the MacMillan Plan for Washington DC, Washington's Union Station, Field Museum and Marshall Field and Company.

Anderson continued with Burnham's successor firm (whose partners were hand picked by Burnham) Graham Anderson Probst and White (extending Burnham's direct reach of design influence for some 14 more years) producing important Chicago Landmarks including Union Station, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Illinois Merchants Bank, the Continental and Commercial Bank. GAPW continued to produce the Straus Bank, the Wrigley Building, the Civic Opera Block. What better place for Charley Murphy and Sigurd Naess to meet and plan the future.

Ed Bennett continued his dedicated support of The Chicago Plan and is credited with the Michigan Avenue Bridge, Buckingham Fountain and Grant Park's Peristyle.

Daniel's sons Hubert and Daniel Jr. (first partners at Graham, Burnham and Company) carried traditions forward through their work at the Carbide and Carbon, the Bankers Building, the Engineering Building, the State of Illinois Building. Where we first meet Nat Owings and Louis Skidmore.

____________________________________________________

SOM produced the Lever House, Inland Steel, the Hartford Insurance, the Brunswick Building, the Hancock Center, Sears Tower, Burj Dubai. And I've never once heard that the real architect wasn't really John Merrill or Louis Skidmore, it was .......  (uh, well, maybe once)

Nor have I ever heard that C.F. wasn't really responsible for O'Hare Airport. It was.......

_____________________________________________________

In the World of late 19th Century Chicago, the architect was John Root. (And just like Harriet says) Root was a real charmer. (Though maybe not THAT charming.) He was a son of a Civil War blockade runner with a penchant for the piano. And a fine hand. But when industrialization, size, style, scale, nationalization, corporate structure, upheavals in technology, communications and transportation changed the face of the City and the Country, the Architect was Daniel Burnham. Who with uncanny perception consistently selected the right people, led them in the right direction, and gave them the right responsibilities within the right organization. And did this  (with a remarkable stream of clients) for forty years. In a manner so clear and so stable and so quality driven,  that for another 20 years (depending who's counting) his direct hand was felt on Chicago's architecture. His solid influence is felt throughout the profession today. Daniel Burnham was a great man.

And, oh yes, a great Architect.

And when all the logic and all the research is done, the only real proof of this pudding necessary is a walk in the Loop. And then to the Lake. On an unseasonably warm April day.