Civic Center, Plan of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Site Plan 1909

Daniel Burnham dreamt up this civic center plan for Chicago sometime around the turn of the 20th century, rendering it with pencil and ink. I love how you can really see the hand in the making of this work. The grey wash gives it an ethereal, almost dreamlike quality, even though it's a rigid architectural plan. Look closely, and you can see the ghost of lines, like the artist was thinking through the process, almost like sketching. The meticulous linework is fascinating, each tiny stroke forming grand structures and expansive plazas. But there’s a tension, right? Between the precision of the architectural rendering and the feeling of a free-flowing, almost organic process. Notice the large octagonal structure at the top. The density of the ink and complexity of the forms draws your eye in and creates a focal point that the rest of the plan seems to radiate from. You can see echoes of Piranesi, who did these incredible, imagined architectural drawings. The act of drawing is always a form of imagining. Burnham’s plan invites us to imagine not just a city, but also a way of living. It reminds us that art isn't just about what we see, but how we dream.