Burnham and Root

Burnham and Root was the name of the company that John Wellborn Root and Daniel Hudson Burnham established as one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century.

During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and built residential and commercial buildings. Their success was crowned with the design of the World's Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in 1891. The two men met when they worked as apprentice draftsmen in the offices of Drake, Carter, and Wright in 1872. A year later they established their own architecture company and began building first private residences for the wealthy elite of Chicago's meat industry. Both of them married into wealthy families which allowed them to establish a basis for their business. "Daniel Hudson Burnham was one of the handsomest men I ever saw," said Paul Starrett who joined Burnham and Root in 1888 (later he designed the Empire State Building). "It was easy to see how he got commissions. His very bearing and looks were half the battle". While Burnham was the pragmatic designer and impressive salesperson, Root became the creative genius of the company. When Burnham and Root were together, one woman said "I used always to think of some big strong tree with lightning playing around it". Louis Sullivan, the famous architect, called Burnham "a colossal merchandiser" obsessed with building the biggest and costliest structures of the city. The company landed its greatest coup with the design of the World's Columbian Exposition. Unfortunately, John Wellborn Root died surprisingly from pneumonia the same year. Burnham and Root became D. H. Burnham and Co.

References

Hines, Thomas S. "Burnham of Chicago, Architect and Planner". New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.