Stunningly handsome and dripping with a charm that disarmed any potential client, Daniel Burnham (1846-1912) was renowned for his work as an urban designer at the height of the Beaux-Arts architectural movement. He had been responsible for planning the present-day urban design of Washington D.C. and Manila.
In 1904, Burnham was invited to San Francisco by former mayor James Phelan[1], who was serving as president of The Association for the Improvement of Adornment of San Francisco. There was an eager desire at the time to radically beautify San Francisco from its more primitive Barbary Coast days[2]. Phelan was delighted that such a famous figure had agreed to take on this project.
Burnham made camp at the top of Twin Peaks, as it afforded the best view of the entire City. His San Francisco Design Plan included a monumental City Hall, a new Union Square and opera house, massive tree-lined boulevards, a park four times the size of Golden Gate Park dominating the southwestern quadrant of the City, and a huge Grecian temple at the summit of Twin Peaks that included a 300 foot statue and waterfall.
His plan utilized every inch of available space, not taking into account population or economic growth. And in this regard, his Plan was unfeasible from the outset. Not to mention, it would have taken more than fifty years to construct. Burnham’s Plan was never seriously considered, and when the 1906 Earthquake and Fires hit, all of his original designs and drawings were destroyed in City Hall. But Burnham’s efforts were not completely in vain. That same year he was commissioned to build the Merchants Exchange Building[3]. It was this building that became Burnahm’s San Francisco legacy.
[1] James Phelan: see story coming February 7th
[2] Barbary Coast: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3823
[3] Merchants Exchange Building: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4971
