Burnham Memorial Planned, But Designs Are Secret

"The three finalists are David Woodhouse Architects of Chicago, Hoerr Schaudt landscape architects of Chicago and Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass, a planning, landscape architecture and architecture firm.

Asked why the finalists' designs are not being made public, even though this is a competition for public space, a spokewoman for the AIA Chicago Foundation, one of the competition's organizers, replied: 'We want to let them keep their ideas to themselves.'

The secrecy, this line of thinking goes, will stop the competitors from borrowing each other's ideas as they tweak their work before the jury selects a winner on June 5. But it also shuts out the public from commenting on the designs, which is ridiculous, because, as Burnham famously said, 'the Lakefront by right belongs to the people.'"