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.ÿþthe tarsney act, 1893 1896 165menced in 1882.Following up on this project, the firm produced anItalian Renaissance design for the Boston Public Library, begun in1887.The Boston Public Library is generally considered to be the symbol of the resurgence of American classicism. 2 It also estab-lished a standard of excellence and restrained elegance in publicbuildings. 3 After the success of this project, the firm adopted ItalianRenaissance classicism as its favored style.The later proliferation ofthe style in the work of the firm and other architects promised a morecoherent urban form than that offered by practitioners of the pic-turesque.Some architectural innovations took years to penetrate the archi-tectural profession nationwide.The success of classicism came muchfaster.Its virtues were made abundantly visible with the 1893 World sColumbian Exposition in Chicago.In fact, the exposition s lessonswere so powerful that they transformed public architecture for thenext five decades.When the 1893 fair was being conceived, onlya handful of recently constructed classical buildings could beidentified.Even the architects who designed major buildings for thefair had not previously produced many buildings in the style noteven Daniel Burnham, the fair s chief of construction.The selection of the classical style for the fair was a product of sev-eral considerations.Although being inclined toward conservativetraditionalism in matters of architectural taste, Burnham thoughtthat the Romanesque style had run its course.4 Another considera-tion was the common training at the École possessed by many of thearchitects selected to design the fair s major buildings.The tight con-struction schedule, from 1891 to 1893, meant that Burnham had to se-lect a guiding theme with which all architects could identify.Classicism became that dominant theme, because it seemed impor-tant to work with an easily understood architectural vocabulary. 5The specifications had called for formal monumentality, similarstyles, and a uniform cornice line.6 The interest in classicism was alsoa product of America s rediscovery of its colonial and Revolutionarypast, as well as the cultural artifacts associated with these traditions.With so few buildings molded in this style in the nation, classicismseemed novel.Through the design and construction process, Burnham receivedthe benefit of professional participation from allied artists, for exam-ple, landscape architects, sculptors, and artists.Burnham viewed thecooperative spirit among these professionals as a model to be repli-cated in other large architectural ventures
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