BLDG51. News and Events |

10 May several historic chicago building foundry patterns and castings join bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 21:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a unique and distinctive collection of historically important metal castings, foundry patterns and plaques were recently acquired by chicago's wagner foundry and its subsidiary, the bronze memorial plaque company. the assemblage is comprised of both interior and exterior metal (e.g., bronze, brass, aluminum, etc.) recast ornament...

10 May destruction of adler and sullivan’s charles p. kimball house as documented by richard nickel

Posted at 10:51h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the following images - digitized, enlarged, and edited from richard nickel contact sheets housed in the richard nickel committee archive at the ryerson and burnham library, art institute of chicago, were taken by richard nickel of the charles p. kimball house during its demolition in...

10 May chicago’s demolished midway gardens and the afterlife of its salvaged remains

Posted at 03:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

the building 51 collection is fortunate to include a few incredibly rare fragments from the non-extant frank lloyd wright-designed midway gardens. among the artifacts is a remarkable c. 1914 panel, comprised of cast concrete and originally part of a larger decorative frieze. a very limited number...

05 May newly added architectural artifacts, rare building books and catalogs and historically important ornament for the month of may

Posted at 03:21h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of MAY,...

04 May a deeper analyis of the lumber industry as it pertains to the construction of 19th century wood-framed chicago cottages

Posted at 21:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

from the time of its settlement chicago had begun a lumber trade, with a sawmill on the north branch of the river that served the local construction trade, and soon after began sending timber by ox-drawn wagon to settlements along hubbard's trail. sure enough, this...

03 May reconstructing louis h. sullivan-designed s.a. maxwell building’s (1881) exterior storefront columns

Posted at 16:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

latest images documenting the reconstruction of the four sullivan-designed exterior load-bearing steel columns adorning the s.a. maxwell building's (adler and sullivan, 1881) storefront. with most of the interior alterations and/or restoration completed, focus has shifted again to the building's façade, where recreation of the ornamental...

02 May photographic study of adler and sullivan’s dooly block by richard nickel during 1959 western states road trip

Posted at 20:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

carefully studying richard nickel images (digitized from numerous contact sheets last week) of adler and sullivan's dooly block (1890-92) not only offered additional insight and appreciation for the firm's only commission built in the western states, but intensified my admiration for nickel's efforts to thoroughly...

30 Apr latest images from bldg 51 archive’s chicago architectural ornament survey (caos)

Posted at 17:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

most recent photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the photo-documentation project focuses on methodically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods, where the historic fabric is...

28 Apr a collection of harold allen’s photographic images documenting chicago’s 19th century architecture

Posted at 03:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

the following images were carefully selected from the voluminous archive of prominent chicago photographer and teacher, harold allen (1922-1999) housed at the ryerson and burnham archive, art institute of chicago. his photographs of adler and sullivan buildings taken in the 1940's are especially important, perhaps highlighted by his...

27 Apr mid-19th century bottles unearthed during the demolition and subsequent excavation of chicago’s “s curve”

Posted at 19:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

just this week i acquired two remarkably rare bottles dating to the mid-19th century, whose history is tied to the 1980’s demolition of chicago’s lake shore drive “s-curve.” in the world of excavation they represent small, yet important “portals to the past," the scarce remnants of...

27 Apr lost and found: adler & sullivan’s knisely flats and store

Posted at 15:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

when richard nickel located adler and sullivan’s 1883 knisley store and flats along lake street in the west side of chicago– a little-known commission briefly mentioned in hugh morrison’s book, “louis sullivan: prophet of modern architecture”, he spent a great deal of time creating detailed...

26 Apr reexploring milwaukee’s 19th century and 20th century architectural ornament in spring of 2021

Posted at 18:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

images documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament during first trip (april, 2021) to milwaukee in over a year. i spent the majority of my time revisiting familiar haunts along my "circuit" that arose from several previous trips aimlessly exploring the city's...

20 Apr flanders and zimmerman’s five-story eckhart and swan milling loft building (1897) undergoing demolition

Posted at 19:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

demolition of eckhart and swan milling company (flanders and zimmerman, architects) is well underway. additional images documenting its destruction will appear in future posts. the architectural firm of flanders and zimmerman (located at 1521 in masonic temple), designed the flour mill, warehouse and stable in 1897...

20 Apr several rare 19th century hardbound builders’ hardware catalogs join bldg. 51 archive

Posted at 17:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

several original, seldom found, and profusely illustrated 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential builders' hardware catalogs were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum archive in early april. it will take several months to digitize and upload the collection of catalogs on the bldg....

20 Apr a rare look at burnham & root’s first regiment armory captured through john vinci kodachrome slides in 1966-1967

Posted at 04:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

fearing the potentially violent protest of working class laborers, as well as in reaction to the haymarket affair, the residents of chicago's prairie avenue "millionaire's row" (prominent figures such as marshall field, george pullman, phillip armour, potter palmer and others) placed pressure on politicians to...

18 Apr photographic documentation of university of chicago’s bedford limestone gothic ornamentation

Posted at 20:29h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

photographic study of gothic style hand-carved bedford limestone architectural ornament adorning 19th and early 20th century university of chicago buildings taken from the midway plaisance. additional images will be added when time permits, including buildings within campus grounds. campus buildings photographed included, but not limited to: international...

14 Apr museum quality architectural ornament, 19th century builders’ hardware and historic building ephemera added in april

Posted at 03:37h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

13 Apr unearthing the remains of the former curtiss factory – home of the “baby ruth” candy bar

Posted at 12:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the excavating machines showed signs of life as they began opening a formerly vacant parcel of ground located just west of ogden slip (a man-made harbor located near the mouth of the chicago river) in preparation for yet another high-rise (the 42-story "optima"). shortly after they...

13 Apr city of chicago building terra cotta: a visual study of ornament from the great chicago fire to the great depression

Posted at 12:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

the following images offers an in-depth visual study of chicago's extant building terra cotta, beginning in the early 1870s with the use of "gray body" terra cotta "trimmings" fabricated by the chicago terra terra company using white clay from indiana, to the richly colored polychromed...

11 Apr a recently dug single granite paver tied to the once grand post-fire wells street station

Posted at 03:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

an original early 20th century granite paver was added to the urban remains collection this week, as a souvenir of the city’s early infrastructure and as an artifact tied to the wells street station that once operated at the site of the merchandise mart. the wells...