Chapter 6: Reaching New Heights

Reaching New Heights: 100,000 people left homeless from the fire The city passes an ordinance banning the construction of wood frame buildings in most of Chicago. Chicagoans (people that live in Chicago) wanted to rebuild the city bigger and better than before.

The Chicago School of Architecture The price of land increases They wanted to make buildings taller to have large buildings without taking up a lot of land. The first skyscrapers had very thick walls. This was a waste of space. William Le Baron Jenney constructed a metal framework so buildings did not have to be very thick at the bottom.

Montauk Building

Rookery

Monadnock Building

Prairie School of Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect. He wanted to design buildings that fit into their surroundings. He designed the Robie House, which is on the South Side of Chicago. His designs focused on horizontal lines rather than vertical.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House in Chicago Horizontal lines

Horizontal Lines

Labor Unions: Workers were tired of working hard for little pay. They wanted to protect their rights. They created unions. Unions work as a team to fight for the money or conditions they want. an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions

World’s Columbian Exposition: Chicago built a temporary city for almost 27 million visitors The chief planner was Daniel Burnham They called it the White City because all of the buildings were made of white plaster. The “White City” had over 200 buildings. 750,000 people visited daily

Several food companies started at the Exposition:

Wrigley Gum = Wrigley Field

For the Exposition, architects wanted to build something special. Something greater than the Eiffel Tower. The Ferris Wheel

Scientists traveled all over the Americas to collect samples of the different cultures. Some of the exhibits were considered not very authentic. Most of the items are now in the Field Museum

The fair was not all fun. There was a lot of crime. During the fair, a man named Herman Webster Mudgett, murdered over 27 people. He was known as the first serial killer in the United States.

After the Exposition: Daniel Burnham joined Edward Bennett to create a Plan of Chicago called the Burnham Plan. The Plan included wider streets, create a better street system, and improve the lakefront.