12 Oct richard nickel images of three oaks wrecking salvaging louis sullivan’s chicago stock exchange ornament
latest richard nickel images documenting the removal of louis-sullivan-designed ornamental cast iron staircases and terra cotta by three oaks wrecking during demolition of adler and sullivan’s downtown chicago chicago stock exchange building (1894) in early 1972. the majority of the images capture workers forcefully removing one of two staircases, with newel posts, stringers, and risers being dumped into a makeshift cradle (likely torched from an interior water tank) hanging from the crane’s boom. any and all ornament was loaded onto flatbed trucks and brought to three oaks yard.
nickel shot most of the salvage photos using a 500c hasselblad camera with multiple lenses. the images are all 2 1/4, with the majority being transferred onto contact sheets arranged sequentially. in the last image – a kodachrome taken by friend and colleague, john vinci on scaffolding wrapped around the cornice, you can see the hasselblad around his neck.
