rarely does one find an all original and completely intact residential entrance or vestibule door lockset with every component being apart of the short-lived and thus, highly desirable anglo-japanese designed hardware fabricated by the russell & erwin company, with design patents issued as early as...
today marked the last day that the john kent russell house remained standing for nearly a century and a half. i'm amazed at all the changes that have occurred to the residence since the initial phases of construction sometime in the 1840's. despite the additions, upgrades...
for over 7 hours i systematically documented the slow and painful death of the pre-fire john kent russell house, which in its earliest form may have begun as a frame cottage that dates back to 1845-50 based on newly found evidence. several yellow pine or douglas...
i spent saturday and sunday photographing the uptown theater facade and its dilapidated horizontal marquee, a "sullivanesque" style building with terra cotta ornament (fabricated by the midland terra cotta company) and finally, a few hours investigating and/or documenting structural components at the russell house. [gallery ids="2991,2989,2986,2987,2988,2992"] ...
the gallery consists of building materials and other odds and ends discovered in the russell house while salvaging the artifacts that are currently available for sale on the urban remains website. a booklet and a weekend architectural artifact exhibit (i.e., containing these objects and more) designed...
despite numerous trips to photodocument the chicago athletic association building (1893), i never paid much attention to the sleek and streamlined cherry circle bar, located in the building annex (designed by schmidt, garden and martin in 1907). the other week, i poked my head inside the...
demolition of the historically important pre-fire chicago john kent russell house is now on the horizon. after a very long life, i was very fortunate to document its last days before it is reduced to splintered wood and rubble. we were told it was to...
detaching myself from the ongoing (and seemingly never ending) john kent russell salvage in order to revisit and photodocument any and all changes made to the chicago athletic association building, was both refreshing and therapeutic. i managed to devote an entire afternoon (earlier this week) to...
the bldg. 51 museum just acquired three magnificent electric light fixtures removed from the extant historic uptown theater designed by rapp and rapp. the lot consists of two matching single light sconces and a ceiling-mount pendant light with original canopy. the fixtures are comprised of finely...
despite being consumed salvaging the john kent russell house, along with painstakingly documenting the chicago athletic association building, i did manage to make it over to the historic division street bridge (what was left of it) to photograph its final days. by the time i arrived...
shortly after a a good friend and i finished a lengthy and rather productive discussion over existing structures from 1850's chicago, i once again prepared for another afternoon at the pre-fire john kent russell house (salvage in progress as of late last week). instead of developing...
urban remains began salvaging the historically important c. 1855 john kent russell house yesterday afternoon. any and all interior architectural components were thoroughly documented and carefully removed. but before i begin what will likely be a series of posts revolving around the salvage of this pre-fire...
the winslow brothers foundry (specializing in ornamental iron and bronze work) was founded around 1887 by brothers william and francis winslow. within a very short time thereafter, the winslow brothers would become one of the most accomplished foundries; outfitting numerous notable buildings and residences with skillfully executed...
the bldg. 51 virtual museum website overhaul was completed late last week. the overall design of the new website and its treatment of artifacts was guided by the final layout of the softbound catalog that will be available for purchase in the coming weeks (we...
i spent hours pouring over thousands of stunning city of chicago images taken by charles cushman spanning the late 1930's to the late 1950's. i selected several images that impacted me in one form or another and compiled them together in the gallery below. i strongly...
shortly before the historic division street riveted plate steel bascule bridge (constructed in 1902-03) was fenced off in preparation for demolition, i spent an afternoon photodocumenting it from what felt like every conceivable angle to satisfy my mind's eye. accessing the hydraulic machinery below or underside of...
