The Beginnings, - Chapter 1, Page 5

Yet there are those who will say, that if for the housing of the world's exhibits such feats have been accomplished as were never before attempted or deemed worthy of attempting, it does not necessarily follow that a corresponding work has therefore been achieved in architectural design or artistic embellishment. Not least among the lessons of this magnificent display are the lessons it teaches in revealing to us our shortcomings. The work our people have done will be criticised by some of the most experienced savants and connoisseurs from every quarter, by those who will be sparing neither in praise nor censure. I shall not attempt to forecast their judgment, for all in good time we shall hear the verdict of mankind as to the manner in which the second of our great metropolitan cities has performed the stupendous task imposed on the nation's fealty to art and catholicity of taste. When Chicago was finally selected as the location of the Fair, there was general and by no means groundless apprehension that her conceptions would tend to hugeness rather than to harmony . For the most part plans were drawn and the buildings constructed by local architects, and accustomed as they were to buildings ten or twenty stories in height, and in some instances to avenues from 200 to 300 feet wide, it is no wonder that their projects partook somewhat of the Brobdingnagian type. Said a prominent Chicago journal on the eve of dedication day, "The office architecture of Chicago is the key to the wonders of the Fair." Her office architecture is indeed remarkable, as are also her cloud-capped temples of commerce industry and art. Her citizens are proud of them, and with a not unworthy pride, for such things are well enough in their way. But as the greatness of a city cannot be judged by height of buildings and breadth of boulevards, so in relation to the Fair, we should not attempt to measure architectural accomplishment by the rood or artistic exhibits by the yard. I would not say that such has been the case in the great work accomplished by the artificers of the Fair, by whom so many difficulties have been overcome in structural methods and contrivances. Allowing for certain drawbacks the general results are excellent, so much so as to dispel even the prejudice of eastern connoisseurs, who have long since ceased to ask whether, in the line of art or architecture, any good thing could come from Chicago. If any of our foreign friends should wish for something different from this group of huge white buildings, with their endless array of stucco pillars, stucco ornaments, and stucco statuary, they must remember the conditions under which the task was undertaken; and considering those conditions there are few who will care to criticise too sharply the architectural features of this display. First of all it was necessary that the buildings should be of vast dimensions, for even with 200 acres or more of floor room, every foot of exhibiting space was bespoken long before the opening of the Exposition, and with applications for thrice the available room. They must be erected in a limited time, a time almost too limited for the thorough elaboration of artistic design. They were also temporary structures, and must be so erected that if not converted to other purposes the materials could be easily removed. All these conditions were accepted by the architects of the Fair, and except for the coordination of the plans with the general design which had been formulated by the chief of construction and approved by the local directory, they were permitted-to go about their work without interference or restriction. Thus each one attempted to give to his edifice all the exterior decoration, the symmetry and harmony of detail that pertained to the exercise of his art, leaving to exhibitors and to committees appointed for that purpose the task of interior decoration. Of all the principal buildings erected for this Exposition, and also of those erected by individual states and by foreign participants, descriptions will be given in other sections of this work. In conclusion it may be said that whatever may be the popular verdict as to the artistic merits of the Columbian Exposition, there can be no difference of opinion as to the energy which Chicago has brought to bear on this the greatest of all her great achievements, and the earnestness, intelligence, and thoroughness with which it has been accomplished. Only through the exercise of these qualities, so common to American communities, and to none more so than to the denizens of our mid-continent metropolis, has been transformed a wilderness into a garden of palaces, filled with the choicest productions of industry and art of which mankind is capable.

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