but what would frank lloyd wright say? oh, columbia!

while in the bahamas i cultivated a newfound awe for 'illinois.' leaving the dallas airport, i bought "the devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america," by erik larson. it's about the world's columbian exposition of 1893 in chicago, which daniel burnham spearheaded the building of, along with people like mckim, hunt, olmstead, and for a short while root. even sullivan and adler did a building. anyways, it's about the fair, and how chicago won the competition to get it over new york, and how it built 'the white city,' within chicago, 'the black city,' and became this point of civic and national pride. as the book follows burnham, it also follows h.h.holmes, a serial killer so charming and handsome that he was able to build a city-block long 'castle' under the guise of a hotel called 'the world's fair hotel,' though the building was actually a killing machine full of sound-proof vaults, a furnace, and so on. so there's this dichotomy between arguably the greatest and most beautiful creation of american planning/architecture/commerce/invention and this evil for which no one could ever find a motive. and chicago becomes this central point for this kind of cyclone of beauty, progress, and evil. and of course the fair is also the focal point for the 'illinois' album -

"Oh great white city
I've got the adequate committee
Where have your walls gone?
I think about it now

Chicago, in fashion, the soft drinks, expansion
Oh Columbia!
From Paris, incentive, like Cream of Wheat invented,
The Ferris Wheel!"


it's all in reference to the fair - chicago surpassing new york, the new inventions of the fair (shredded wheat, aunt jemima), how ferris (a pittsburgher) got this amazing wonder of engineering built, and dedicated it to "all engineers of america," and the warfare between the committees of businessmen created to build the fair, and the intense anxiety of the directors and for that matter, the whole nation, of underselling the paris exposition attendance record (a record which they in fact broke by several hundred thousand people, on "chicago day!")

i could clearly go on and on about all this stuff, but at the heart of it is this amazement that this all happened, and the hugely influential impact it had on us and our country. and what's more, how no one remembers it now - no one knows about the architects, or engineers, or entrepreneurs at all! though for a hundred years after they were household names. one 19 year old advertiser who worked at the fair, sol bloome, even went on to help found the UN. everyone in america still has this reticent but profound connection to these events! and we don't even know it. walt disney's dad was a construction worker at the fair - and after hearing stories about 'the magic of the white city,' his son would try to recreate the enthusiasm. and that's just one example of the supreme influence of the fair on american culture. for burnham, millet, olmstead, ferris, and even mckim and all the eastern architects - it defined their lives. it was the single largest construction project in american history.

and so this book made me go back and re-interpret "illinois," in the context of the history of the fair. and so now of course it's 15 times better, though before it was still my favorite album ever.



anyways, we got back from the bahamas yesterday... it was sort of insane, but fun. i got some kind of food poisoning on the way home and so have been in bed all day since yesterday. the next month and a half looks a little bleak, since i have my thesis, the appeal to my housing probation, and the decision about grad school to make. also, there is a bug infestation in this slonim. it's disgusting beyong belief. i am so ready to get the fuck out of ny.

also, our presentations for victor are due tuesday...OOPS! we have to have our entire models done as well as a flythrough quicktime movie. i am really excited to make mine, i'm looking to OMA's recent louisville kentucky skyscraper video for inspiration. however, i have not even begun the final model so i really am a little worried. especially since i can't really get out of bed right now. i'm excited nonetheless!