Where can we find remains of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? All around us! While few buildings of the White City remain, the urban planning movement it ushered in endures.
In “A Case for Civic Splendor: Notes on the City Beautiful Movement,” Kayla Bartsch, writing for the National Review, opens with a look back at the “gleaming citadel” on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1893. She reminds us of one of the most important enduring legacies of the Fair:
“The grandeur of the place, marked with monumental symmetry and Gilded Age splendor, sparked the imaginations of the fair’s visitors, including the American artists and architects in attendance who were eager to formulate a new style of architecture unique to the American city. This desire ushered in a new aesthetic movement in American architecture, the City Beautiful movement.”
Although her essay is about the “power of the private sector” to create beautiful urban spaces such as the High Line park in New York City, she skips over the inconvenient fact that the 1893 World’s Fair was heavily funded by federal, state, and local governments in addition to private support. Still, her closing words are an important call to action:
“Whether found on the tree-lined city square or in the old courthouse on Main Street, the beauty we inherit and the beauty we can give is a wonderful gift. Let us not fall apathetic toward it.”
