Stories by Mike Comerford
Photographs by Mark Welsh
Daily Herald Staff
Fourth of five parts

Swan boats sitting on the Burnham Park lagoon in Baguio City might remind Chicagoans of the Lincoln Park lagoon. Chicago architect Daniel Burnham laid out plans for Chicago, Baguio and Manila.

Fiestas and lavish dinners were prepared for the Chicago architects everywhere they went that January of 1905.

The elite of the Philippines toasted and queried world-renowned architect Daniel Burnham and fellow designer Pierce Anderson about their plans for Manila and a proposed summer capital in the "Baguio meadow," in the cool mountains of northern Luzon.

A century later, the meadow at Baguio has become a bustling city. Manila's famous promenade along its bay, along with parks, government buildings and waterways, still resonates Burnham's original plans — and the architect's bust stands prominently at the city center, dubbed Burnham Park.

"It's really a fascinating and little-known aspect of his career," said Sally Chapell, an architectural historian in Chicago and professor emeritus at DePaul University. "He was thinking about Chicago years before (he published his Chicago Plan in 1909). He may have had Lake Shore Drive in mind when he was looking at Manila Bay."

After his success with the "White City" of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Burnham showed that planning could create cities that were visually stunning as well as functional. Thus was born the movement known as "City Beautiful."

As an early representative of the movement, Manila shares some layout elements found in Chicago. Burnham left Manila's Spanish fortress and inner city substantially intact but also planned grand boulevards, parks, waterways and public buildings outside the fortress.

Likewise, Lake Shore Drive and Grant Park were created for Lake Michigan views. Museums, such as the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry, were built near the shoreline.

Baguio and Manila were devastated in World War II, obliterating much of Burnham's work. Nevertheless, the basic layouts remain from the plans he shared at those dinners in 1905.

"Manila," Burnham wrote at the time, "may rightly hope to become the adequate expression of the destiny of the Filipino people as well as an enduring witness to the efficient services of America in the Philippine Islands."

IN PART 4:
• So many died
• The shoes that keep on walking
• Burnham's vision links Chicago with Philippines
• More photos from part 4