If you are in a group of international travellers and “Chicago” is the answer to the question “Where are you from?” the response is often rapid gun fire in reference to the gangster Al Capone, perhaps a reference to the fire or the great fairs or Mies or Frank Lloyd Wright.

Rome is a series of vivid memories for me too- an academic year as an undergraduate that was also a Jubilee year, a return 20 years later with a close friend, a trip to conclude turning 50 and a trip to begin turning 60. Every trip to Italy started in Rome and moved on from there. And even after four trips I heard about Pasquino for the first time and want to return to leave my note with him.

And that's the biggest truth about the great cities. Return as often as you can and learn something new and inspiring every time.

I tried to make some connections between Rome and Chicago. I have walked a lot in both cities. Perhaps the Ecole des Beaux Arts tradition of Paris found its way into the Burnham Plan for Chicago.  Perhaps the styles of Wright and Mies spread in Italy. Rome was shaped by her Popes and wealthy families. Chicago was shaped by her politicians and wealthy families. 

Every day the cities we live in are shaped and reshaped by choices. I sense Chicago needs a team of visionaries like Burnham willing to bite the bullet rather than fire it, and with grit and determination prepare to initiate change. We need people to preserve each other as much as we need people to preserve buildings. We need the fearless teams of people who decided to take on a fair and with its success brought civic pride.

"What Burnham did was what the great architects and patrons of the Renaissance did: treat the city as a great work of art, which could be designed, even incrementally, to represent their society's values and aspirations, and make it memorable."(1)

(1) "A Modern City's Memory: Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, United States", Professor David Mayernik

Just a final technical comment. I spent quite a bit of time setting format, editing font and font size, and it didn't hold in the "Published View". I would try again and it still didn't hold. I apologize for the inconsistencies.

My Self-Rated Rubric

Below is each goal to work towards in your project pages (Parts 2-4 of this portfolio).

For each goal in the left column, rate your overall project's success on a scale of 0-2.

(0 should be given for minimal work, 2 for strong work)

Click to see the full course rubric for the project and personal pages.