Image from the Art Institute of Chicago Burnham Centennial Website

Daniel Burnham: If He Only Had Form-Based Codes in His Time!

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Mahender VasandaniPresident, M Square | Urban DesignAPA Upper Midwest Conference

September 25, 2009

From Late 19th-Early 20th Century Beautiful Movement to…

Late 20th-21st Century New Urbanist Movement

In the Broadest Sense…

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What I Will Talk About :

Focus on North Michigan Avenue (John W. Stamper, “Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue, Planning and Development, 1900-1930)

Burnham/Bennett Recommendations

Post-Burnham Plan Recommendations

What Was Actually Built

Highlights of Form-Based Codes

What Could Have Form-Based Codes Done?

Lessons We Can Learn from the City Beautiful Movement/Burnham Plan for Michigan Avenue

Specifically…

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Burnham’s Inspiration

Champs Elysees, Paris

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A Prime Beaux-Arts

Example of “CityAs Architecture”

North Michigan Avenue: Burnham Plan Recommendations

A Champs ElyseesFor Chicago

Images Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue5

Burnham’s Inspiration

Rue de Rivoli:Haussmann’s“Street Architecture”

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Lessons from Haussmann’sParis -- 1909

Michigan Avenue: Burnham + Post- Burnham Plan Recommendations

Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue

NCBDA Plan 1918

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North Michigan Avenue Today

Built Urban Form Radically Different from the Burnham Plan Recommendations 8

North Michigan Avenue (North of River): 1920’s

Built Urban Form Started toChange in 1920’s; Little RegardFor Plan Height LimitsBurnham Brothers, Inc. Architects: Central Life Insurance Bldg. 1923-24

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Michigan Avenue: Post-Burnham Plan Recommendations

Urban Form Study,Andrew Rebori,

1918

Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue10

Michigan Avenue: Post-Burnham Plan Recommendations

Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue

Urban Form Study, Andrew Rebori, 191811

North Michigan Avenue: Buildings from 1920s

1921, 24

1929

1925

Michigan Ave. Bridge

Opened in 1920

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“Corporate” Statements: North Michigan Avenue: 1920s

Tribune Tower Competition

1922

Wrigley Building1919-22

Medinah Club1925

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Emphasis on Boldness And Beauty...But on Individual Buildings

North Michigan Avenue (South of River): 1920’s

Bell Building1924

Built Urban Form Started toChange in 1920’s; Little RegardFor Plan Height Limits

1909 Burnham Plan(Jules Guerin)

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North Michigan Avenue (South of River) Today

Built Urban Form Radically Different from the Burnham Plan Recommendations

Bell1924

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Michigan Avenue (South Water St): Post-Burnham (1921) Recommendations

Bold Parisian Ambitions:Sill Planning for UniformBuilding Heights after…

Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue

South Water StreetFruit Market, 1890s+

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Wacker Drive (South Water St) Today

Building Bulk and Form Different Today than Conceived in 1921 17

Based on An Adopted Community Vision

Mix Uses

Prescribe What is Desirable

Predictable Building/Urban Form (No F.A.R.s or Density Limits, But Bulk Limits )

Predetermined Vision Based on Public Support; Can Help Retain Existing Community Character

Architectural Standards (Also Landscape Standards/Roadway Design Standards)

Power of Place

Based on Abstract Zoning Requirements

Segregate Uses

Proscribe (What Not Allowed)

Unpredictable Building Bulk/Form

(Maximize F.A.R.s and Densities)

Unpredictable Character

No Architectural Considerations

No Sense of Place

FBCs Conventional Zoning Codes

Highlights of Form-Based Codes As Compared to Conventional Zoning

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Adopted for a Specific Urban Area More graphic; More Easily Understood and Enforced

Includes Integrated Standards for: Thoroughfares, Frontages, Building Types, Public Space, Landscaping – All Linked to a Regulating Plan

Highlights of Form-Based Codes

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If DHB Had Got a FBC Adopted in His Time to Implement the 1909 Plan:

Uniform Heights and Bulk, and “Street” Architecture; No Eclectic Architecture or Corporate “Statements”

( If Politically Feasible) 20

Fundamentally…Is Eclectic Architecture Better, Or Is Uniform Architecture Better?

It Depends…

… on How GoodIs the Architecture

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Is Eclectic Better, Or Is Uniform Better?

An Ensemble of Well-Designed Buildings in Different Styles Can Work Well 22

Is Eclectic Better, Or Is Uniform Better?

Poorly Designed Buildings Can Neither Work as An Ensemble Nor as “Street Architecture”

Bottom Line:

Whether Eclectic or Uniform, Quality of Architecture Is Important in Establishing Character of a Place;

Form-Based CodesProvide Control Over Character in Place-Making

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Character of a Place Is Defined By:

How Buildings Relate to the Public Realm at the Street Level

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Character of a Place Is Defined By:

The Types of Uses Allowed in an Area

(Michigan Avenue was designed from Day One to be an Up-Market Street)

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Character of a Place Is Defined By:

The Placement of Buildings in Relation to the Street26

Character of a Place Is Defined By:

The Type of Landscaping and How It Relates to the Buildings and Streets 27

Character of a Place Is Defined By:

And How the Landscaping Relates to Sidewalks28

Character of a Place Is Defined By:

The Way BULK and Height of Buildings Relate to Streets/Street Widths

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Lessons Learned from Michigan Avenue

Daniel Hudson Burnham Inspired Architects and Planners of His Time and Subsequent GenerationsTo Think Big. And, to Emphasize Civic Beauty of a City .

About Paris, He Said:“…more beautiful, unified and efficient arrangement of all its parts,

all interconnected with handsomely landscaped streets and boulevards.Gracing this noble city would be noble (public) architecture…”

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Lessons Learned from Michigan Avenue

While Uniform Heights were a casualty of successful businesses were creating unique identities, Beautiful Architecture –individual and civic – is a legacy of the Burnham Plan

Landscaped Streets and Boulevards are another legacy of the Burnham Plan

Over the years, in the spirit of Burnham, Chicago has made North Michigan Avenue into a world-class destination.

Many of the City’s design achievements (without a Form-Base Code) can be more easily achieved today by other communities with the help of FBCs.

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Lessons Learned from Michigan Avenue for a Good Form-Based Code

1. Create Good Architecture – Private and Civic -- With Form-BasedArchitectural Standards (This is A Must)

2. Create Building Bulk and Building Placement Standards

3. Create Street and Sidewalk Standards

4. Create Streetscape and Landscaping Standards

5. Create a List of Permitted Uses (Typically not included in FBCs)

6. Create an Urban Design Plan and a Regulating Plan with the above Standards (This actually is the first step)

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Daniel Burnham: If He Only Had Form-Based Codes in His Time!

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Thank You!

Mahender VasandaniPresident, M Square | Urban Design

T: 630.845.1202E: mgv@msqre.com