Historical Landscape
How has the configuration of the landscape and public space shaped the construction of sustainability in the Chicago area?
World's Fair Columbian Exposition. 1893
Held from May 1 to October 31, 1893, the exposition contained one of the first projects where gardens and public green spaces became relevant for the city. The ephemeral white city took as a reference the neoclassical architecture to commemorate the IV centenary of the arrival of the conqueror Cristopher Colombus to the lands of the American continent.
The architectural design was carried out by Frederick Law Olmstead for the urban structure design and the firm Burham and Root for the buildings.
Childe Hassam (1859–1935) Horticulture Building, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 26 1/4 in. (47.0 x 66.7 cm). Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.67.
Childe Hassam. Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1892. Gouache "en grisaille" over graphite on tan wove paper. 10 5/8 x 14 in. (27.0 x 35.6 cm) Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1992.38.
Thomas Moran (American, 1837-1926). Chicago World's Fair, 1894. Transparent watercolor with opaque white highlights and graphite on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured wove paper, 29 x 21 9/16 in. (73.7 x 54.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Clara L. Obrig, 31.194 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 31.194_cropped_SL1.jpg)
Chicago. Michigan Avenue looking towards the south. Proposed double Broadway running to a plaza ay its intersección with Twelfth St. Published in Burnham, Daniel Hudson. Plan of Chicago. Chicago: The Commercial Club, 1909.
City Beautiful Movement, 1900’s
It was a movement based on the idea of a civic improvement of American society that proposed to beautify and order the cities so that they were more spacious, with streets, squares, gardens and parks that represented the moral values of their society.
Osaka Garden, designed for the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Photo from The World’s Columbian Exposition: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, the White City Artfolio.
Bird's-eye view of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
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The Atlas of ReUrbanism | Chicago
By The National Trust for Historical Preservation
Check out Chicago's historic landscape and your surroundings.
Research assembled by Alivé Piliado