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Burnham Memorial Finalists Named04-08-09 | News

Burnham Memorial Finalists Named


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There are three finalists for the design competition for Chicago's lakefront memorial to Daniel Burnham, FAIA (1846-1912). Burnham and his assistant, Edward Bennett, prepared the plan of Chicago and Burnham donated his services. His vision was that all Chicagoans be within walking distance of a park.
Regal Teak LAF

The AIA Chicago Foundation has named three finalists for the design competition for a lakefront memorial to Daniel Burnham:

  • Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass., a planning, landscape architecture and architecture firm.
  • Hoerr Schaudt, landscape architects of Chicago.
  • David Woodhouse Architects of Chicago.

The Burnham Memorial design competition is being held on the 100th anniversary of Burnham's plan for Chicago, which the AIA Chicago Foundation classifies as the "first comprehensive planning document to control the growth of an American city." The plan not only established the lakefront park system and Grant Park, but also formalized the downtown business/civic district and founded the regional forest preserve. Burnham was also the architect of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.






The Burnham Memorial site is in front of the Field Museum in Chicago's Grant Park.


The site for the memorial is in front of the Field Museum in Grant Park

The competition is being conducted per the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national design competition guidelines. Some are concerned that no drawings or graphics of the winning designs are being released. That the designs are not being made public for this very much public space seems unusual. In a statement, the foundation explained: "We want to let them keep their ideas to themselves."

An opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune bemoaned the "secrecy" and said the competition should be watched closely because of its "powerful backers"- the Richard Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust is putting up $150,000 in prize money.

The jury selects a winner June 5.

For more information on the memorial, visit www.aiachicago.org/burnham.

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