Plan of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Railroad Circuits Diagram 1909

This "Plan of Chicago" by Daniel Hudson Burnham looks like it was carefully drawn, using a limited palette of blues, reds and off-whites. You can see the hand of the artist in the lines, and in how they weave together to create this vision of the city. The map has this great tension between its lines, shapes, and textures and the flat surface of the page, and I think it really makes you feel the density and complexity of urban planning as a process. I am particularly drawn to how Burnham uses the colour red to illustrate "Properties Occupied By Industries", these clusters of colour are like a kind of beautiful rash, that brings a visceral quality to an otherwise very cool rendering. Thinking about this piece makes me think of the urban landscapes of Rackstraw Downes, and his commitment to the careful rendering of space. Just as in Rackstraw Downes's work, this map isn't just a document; it's a way of seeing and imagining the world.