CHICAGO â Chicago isnât just an architectural capital because of its great buildings. Itâs a vital forum of ideas about what makes architecture great. A case in point: this yearâs crop of recommended design books. Theyâre all related to the city and its suburbs, but have much broader appeal. âChicagoâs Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American Cityâ by Carl Smith The grim toll of the Great Chicago Fire still boggles the mind â more than 2,000 acres and 18,000 buildings burned, about 90,000 people left homeless, 122 miles of sidewalks and 2,162 street lamps destroyed. Yet Chicagoâs post-Fire recovery was just as startling. Just 22 years later, it put on a spectacular worldâs fair.