24 Feb never-seen-before images documenting the destruction of louis sullivan’s eli b. felsenthal store and flats
the felsenthal store, apartment, office and loft building was designed and built by louis h. sullivan in 1906 for eli e. felsenthal (friend and family attorney for sullivan’s former partner, dankmar adler). the two-story masonry building was located at 701-709 east 47th street, chicago, ills.
the project marked the transition in sullivan’s practice from tall commercial skyscraper buildings to the heavily ornamented low-rise structures erected during the later part of his career.
the demolition of the sullivan-designed building in 1982 launched an ambitious effort to carefully search chicago’s seventy-seven community areas to identify and document significant buildings (both commercial and residential). the resulting 12-year effort was later published in 1996 as the “chicago historic resources survey” (which to this day, has not been updated due to lack of funding).
while working for landmarks, tim samuelson spent a great deal of time both documenting and rescuing terra cotta ornament and “tapestry” brick during its demolition. thanks to his efforts, sullivan-designed ornament lives on in various public and private collections.
salvaged ornament:
all images courtesy of timothy j. samuelson, eric nordstrom, and the bldg. 51 archive. ornament courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.
further reading:
