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The Role Of Architects In Devil In The White City By Erik Larson

1384 Words6 Pages

“A person professionally engaged in the design of certain large constructions including buildings and the like are known as architects,” by definition. Architects play a role, not only in everyday life, but also in history. Throughout the book Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, famous architects from around the world make an appearance and prove their strengths and weaknesses. Although when thought of, many believe architects are engineers that build and accomplish impossible statues, buildings, and architecture, but this is far from the truth. An architect can be found within every normal human because they always build and accomplish plans and other ideas. This simple fact is not only true, but is the basic layout for the book Devil …show more content…

Every architect is different which results in the fight for dominance within the architectural field. Each and every person has their own abilities, which he/she then uses to become the very best at what they do. Daniel Burnham was introduced early on in the book, and his accomplishments later in the book show just how great of a man he really was from start to finish. His ideas as an architect truly shape how the fair was built and run. He believed in putting nothing to waste to achieve the most jaw-dropping sights. He succeeded this by being able to win over the hardest of clients with his pristine physical look. On the other hand, H.H. Holmes used his manipulation to his strong suite. No matter when it came in handy Holmes always got out trouble from the single method of manipulation. The book starts out early on by showing these two men using their skills to the best of their knowledge. “Burnham was a talented artist and architect in his own right, but his greatest strength lay in his ability to win clients...” (Larson 26). As time went on Burnham would show this great skill by winning over the many architects that helped build the great White City. Although his skill wouldn’t always work on the first try it would, in …show more content…

When accomplishing tasks, roadblocks and mistakes are always guaranteed. The best way to succeed is to learn from the past which means that you should try and get any mistakes and dilemmas out of the way in the beginning so that you have smooth sailing from then on out. Devil in the White City is a fantastic way to show this. Throughout the book Holmes and Burnham go through multiple predicaments which end up shaping how the end takes place, and how the two masterminds handle them. Holmes ends up having many different predicaments and always get out of them up until the time when he get caught. “...Come here raging and calling him all the names imaginable, he would smile and talk to them and set up the cigars and drinks and send them away seemingly his friends for life. I never saw him angry. You couldn’t have trouble with him if you tried” (Larson 72). This is a direct example that was seen by some of Holmes’ workers that specifically states how Holmes would, in a time of need, play tricks on his enemies minds in order to get out of trouble. Just like any architect this was only the beginning of his troubles, and he would only learn from his mistakes and change his tactics to prolong his troubles. Just like Holmes, Burnham was also an excellent planner and used his abilities to get him out of trouble. These troubles began before the fair even took place. As Burnham

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The book, “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson, is intriguing by the title alone. I had not previously heard about the book or the major events in the book, so it was interesting being able to read without bringing presumptions to the text. The “White City” mentioned in the title is Chicago, Illinois where the meat of the story occurs. “The Devil” mentioned in the title, is referring to Herman Webster Mudgett, commonly known by alias Dr. H. H. Holmes. This novel follows the construction of the World’s Columbian Exposition Fair in Chicago by architect Daniel Burnham whom is striving to prove to the nation and world that he is capable of building never-before built concepts within unheard of time frames.

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The Devil in the White City The Devil in the White City is a historical non-fiction book written by Erik Larson that reads like a novel. The book follows two, real main characters, during the building and existence of the Chicago World’s fair. The first is an American architect named Daniel Burnham.

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