Exhibition Shows the Swagger and the Social Conscience of a Previous Era of Planning

It's rare for an entire exhibition to be devoted to the practice and history of planning. This is a big one.

1 minute read

July 9, 2019, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Administration building at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, on opening day, May 1, 1893

Everett Historical / Shutterstock

An exhibition devoted to a previous era of ambitious planning is showing this summer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, according to an article by Ezra Harber Glenn.

"'Big Plans: Picturing Social Reform' (on display through September 15) recounts the story of large-scale civic improvement plans in New York, Boston, and Chicago, and the dual births of the professions of urban planning and landscape architecture that emerged from these early successes," according to Glenn.

Luminaries like Frederick Law Olmsted and Daniel Burnham are heavily featured. According to Glenn, the exhibition is characterized by the "ever-present echo of Burnham’s famous commandment to 'make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.'"

Glenn also notes how the plans of the era were intended to cure social ills—a point punctuated by the exhibition's transition from massive maps, drawings, and renderings, to the personal, human photos of Lewis Wickes Hine, who "used his camera to document and publicize poor working conditions and slum life" and helped end child labor.

A lot more detail on the exhibition, which includes a lot of the images and maps shown in the exhibition, is included in the source article.

Monday, July 8, 2019 in CityLab

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight