Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (aka Chicago World's Fair) Designed by a panel led by architect Danial Burnham and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition made Chicago the leading force in architecture, a prominence the city is still known for today. The style is classically influenced by the Greeks and Romans, but the designed on a faux city built onto the lake. More than 27 million people came to see the sights, among them, the first use of electric lighting designed and installed by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesl , using his invention of AC current.