Image from the Art Institute of Chicago Burnham Centennial Website Daniel Burnham: If He Only Had Form-Based Codes in His Time! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Mahender Vasandani President, M Square | Urban Design APA Upper Midwest Conference September 25, 2009

From Late 19 th -Early 20 th Century Beautiful Movement to… Late 20 th -21 st Century New Urbanist Movement In the Broadest Sense… 2

What I Will Talk About :  Focus on North Michigan Avenue (John W. Stamper, “Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue, Planning and Development, )  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 3

Burnham’s Inspiration Champs Elysees, Paris 4 A Prime Beaux-Arts Example of “City As Architecture”

North Michigan Avenue: Burnham Plan Recommendations A Champs Elysees For Chicago Images Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue 5

Burnham’s Inspiration Rue de Rivoli: Haussmann’s “Street Architecture” 6

Lessons from Haussmann’s Paris Michigan Avenue: Burnham + Post- Burnham Plan Recommendations Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue NCBDA Plan

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 to Change in 1920’s; Little Regard For Plan Height Limits Burnham Brothers, Inc. Architects: Central Life Insurance Bldg

Michigan Avenue: Post-Burnham Plan Recommendations Urban Form Study, Andrew Rebori, 1918 Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue 10

Michigan Avenue: Post-Burnham Plan Recommendations Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue Urban Form Study, Andrew Rebori,

North Michigan Avenue: Buildings from 1920s 1921, Michigan Ave. Bridge Opened in

“Corporate” Statements: North Michigan Avenue: 1920s Tribune Tower Competition 1922 Wrigley Building Medinah Club Emphasis on Boldness And Beauty...But on Individual Buildings

North Michigan Avenue (South of River): 1920’s Bell Building 1924 Built Urban Form Started to Change in 1920’s; Little Regard For Plan Height Limits 1909 Burnham Plan (Jules Guerin) 14

North Michigan Avenue (South of River) Today Built Urban Form Radically Different from the Burnham Plan Recommendations Bell

Michigan Avenue (South Water St): Post-Burnham (1921) Recommendations Bold Parisian Ambitions: Sill Planning for Uniform Building Heights after… Image Courtesy of John Stamper, Author, Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue South Water Street Fruit Market, 1890s+ 16

Wacker Drive (South Water St) Today Building Bulk and Form Different Today than Conceived in

 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 18

 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 19

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 Good Is the Architecture 21

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 Codes Provide Control Over Character in Place-Making 23

Character of a Place Is Defined By: How Buildings Relate to the Public Realm at the Street Level 24

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) 25

Character of a Place Is Defined By: The Placement of Buildings in Relation to the Street 26

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 Sidewalks 28

Character of a Place Is Defined By: The Way BULK and Height of Buildings Relate to Streets/Street Widths 29

Lessons Learned from Michigan Avenue Daniel Hudson Burnham Inspired Architects and Planners of His Time and Subsequent Generations To 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…” 30

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. 31

Lessons Learned from Michigan Avenue for a Good Form-Based Code 1.Create Good Architecture – Private and Civic -- With Form-Based Architectural 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) 32

Daniel Burnham: If He Only Had Form-Based Codes in His Time! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank You! Mahender Vasandani President, M Square | Urban Design T: E: