The Urban Roamer has talked about places, events, and issues. Now, beginning with this entry, the Urban Roamer will be featuring from time to time the people who have helped shaped Metro Manila in this new feature called “Metropolis Builders.” We will be looking at the contributions of urban planners, architects, visual artists, and other visionaries who have helped enrich the metropolitan landscape. And it is apt that the first figure to be featured here is the one who was instrumental in shaping the Manila that we know today…
Born on September 4, 1846 in New York State, Daniel Burnham was as an American architect and urban planner who first came into prominence with his work at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the expedition of Christopher Columbus to what would eventually be known as the Americas in 1492. Those who attended the fair were in awe of Burnham’s neoclassical design of the expo grounds that is reminiscent of European cities. And it was not an arbitrary choice of design. The event was an avenue for Burnham to first convey his ideas for a model city, in his words a “city beautiful” which would put American cities at par with those in Europe in terms of layout, architecture, and other aspects.
Soon enough, civic organizations and local officials were approaching Burnham to help create for their own cities in accordance with the “City Beautiful” ideal. With such zeal for this ideal and his work ethic, Burnham was able to churn out different master plans for the cities of Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., Perhaps the most well-known contribution Burnham made in American city planning would be his work in Washington D.C., as he helped conceive what would become the National Mall, the wide open, green space between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building, with the Washington Monument and the reflective pool in between. (something to note later on in this entry)
It would not be long as well before the American government began to take notice of his work right at the same time that the United States was not only undergoing rapid industrialization but also taking those first steps to become a global power.
