# Daniel Burnham — Sticks and Stones character guide

> Daniel Burnham in Sticks and Stones by Lewis Mumford.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Burnham, Mr. Daniel Burnham, Mr. Burnham

**First appearance:** 0005-ii

## Snapshot

The City Beautiful planner who pointed to Periclean Athens as a way to attract tourists, letting the architect become an accessory of business and surrender leadership to the engineer.

## Who they are

Burnham's plans sought the dignity and decisiveness of the formal plan, but accepted improvements at the value placed on them by Big Business, as creators of land-values and commercial attractiveness. His weakness was neglecting the billboard, the skysign, the subway, and the tall building that undermined the plan even when achieved. He represents the moment the architect, cut off from serving the community, lost his leadership to commerce.

## Relationships

### [Charles McKim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/characters/charles_mckim)

_professional_

They were prominent architects and close colleagues, often collaborating on major Beaux-Arts projects.

### [Charles McKim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/characters/charles_mckim)

_professional_

They were prominent architects and close colleagues, often collaborating on major Beaux-Arts projects.

## In the story

### [VI: The Imperial Façade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/vi-the-imperial-fa-ade)

Co-creator of the World's Columbian Exposition and designer of Union Station in Washington; a leading figure in the imperial style.

### [Chapter II: The Imperial Age and the City Beautiful](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/ii)

Cited as a leader of the City Beautiful movement and a proponent of the imperial Roman style; his Chicago plan with Bennett is mentioned, and he is criticized for valuing commercial attractiveness over true civic beauty.

### [The Imperial Age and Its Architectural Legacy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/iii)

Quoted on the World's Fair as what Romans would have wished to create permanently.

### [VII: The Age of the Machine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/vii-the-age-of-the-machine)

Mentioned as the architect of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, a monument that fell to the pressures of real estate growth.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/i)

Referenced as the architect of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned in relation to the Monadnock Building, which influenced German architects.

### [Biographical Studies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/chapters/iii-biographical-studies)

Subject of 'Daniel H. Burnham' by Charles Moore.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/characters/daniel_burnham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sticks_and_stones_se/characters