Wild clouds billow over Lake Michigan at dawn, then race low over the city's lakefront, into the city by way of Maggie Daley Park and Millennium Park, which opened in 2004, then rising up over buildings that show off decades and decades of some of America's best architectural work. The original trading post that was to become Chicago was located near this spot--Michigan Avenue is at the corner where the high-rises begin. As early as 1836 a plan was made for this to remain "commons" land, but where the park sits today was originally water, then landfill and in 1852 the Illinois Central Railroad began to use it in exchange for building a breakwater, using its tracks there until 1987. Daniel Burnham, urban planner and the creator of the Plan of Chicago that has marked the city's development in parallel with the country's growth, in 1909 had called for the lakefront to be a greenspace and cultural center, but it took nearly a century for the plan to be realized. The photo was taken at dawn from the 27th floor of an apartment on the lakefront, as the rising sun began to color in the building facades, much like an old photo being tinted. Every period of American architecture is part of this lineup.