Plan of Chicago

Co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett, the Plan of Chicago challenged the non-hierarchical grid on which the city had grown, proposing instead a Baroque composition of plazas, avenues, and parks arranged symmetrically around an artificial harbor and civic center. Though many elements were never realized, the plan articulated far-reaching goals that guided Chicago’s development throughout the twentieth century: the preservation of the lakefront for public use, the expansion of parks and forest preserves, and the creation of cultural centers. The Plan demonstrates that the importance of utopian visions rests not in the details of their execution but in their power to direct the course of metropolitan development.