if a 19th century chicago frame cottage is handed a death sentence, you can rest assured i will be there to document its death. i will pick apart, lightly clean, and photograph any and all relevant building materials in my studio. i do this to...
in chicago, the modern preservation movement rose in tandem with the 1950s post-depression era and war renewal program. decentralization, suburbanization, and migration to cities in the us south and west posed a grave threat to chicago’s economy. leaders feared criticism of chicago’s postwar office construction,...
richard nickel images of burnham and root's romanesque style church of the covenant (1889) shortly before and during its demolition in 1971 i believe. note the "possessed" doll head photos...
while sorting through boxes of building materials i'm cataloging for my "deconstructing chicago project," i decided to set a group of bricks aside that connect with, based on the salvages and/or stories tied to them. eight stories involving the non-extant buildings from which the bricks...
photographic images and description of rueben rubel residence, 1884-1885, adler and sulivan, architects. demolished 1958. aaron siskind and richard nickel photographs of louis sullivan-designed ornament taken between 1953-54. first image: carved bedford limestone impost block detail from adler and sullivan's walker warehouse (1892) taken shortly...
the looming threat of the second german evangelical zion church's destruction, which had been in a holding pattern for months, was handed its death sentence when the demolition permit was released and the wrecker arrived with equipment to prepare it for destruction. thankfully, i managed...
one of the most widely recognized, largely intact, and well-maintained worker cottages is the martin schnitzius residence, built in 1891 by the architectural firm of bettinghofer and hermann. the unique design and/or use of ornamentation is a notable example of a more upscale queen anne...
an impressive 19th century chicago (wicker park neighborhood) three-flat apartment building with distinctive masonry punctuated with ornamental anderson pressed brick, fret-sawn wood window lunettes and amazingly intact surrounding ornamental cast and wrought iron newel, bracket and pipe railings flanking stoops and along sidewalk, will be...
objects used in the protest over the demolition of adler & sullivan's chicago stock exchange building (1894) building in 1972. the battle was lost and the building was destroyed. during the course of demolition, architectural photographer richard nickel was killed salvaging ornament when a portion...
signatures left by three tradesmen on h.i. cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893) facade. [caption id="attachment_32715" align="alignleft" width="900"] george h. macomber, building superintendent, george a fuller construction company. inscribed, 1891.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_32711" align="alignleft" width="900"] "michael." inscribed, 1893.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_32714" align="alignleft" width="900"] john arnold, stonsetter (stonemason), john a. fuller...
for such a historically important early adler and sullivan loft building – built around the same time as the jewelers building - richard nickel didn’t take many images (a few contact sheets) of a.s. gage & company store – later known as the revell building,...
recently digitized richard nickel images of burnham and root's phenix building (1887) during its demolition by midwest wrecking in 1957. i was pleasantly surprised to run across both contact sheets and 8 x 10 images of the building's demolition since very few images of chicago school commercial buildings...
the three-story hollenbach seed company building designed by the architectural firm of worthmann and steinbach and completed in 1912, was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours yesterday afternoon. sadly, the distinctive sprayed-glaze red terra cotta ornament, including the centrally located name plaque bearing...
bldg. 51 museum gifted an original early 20th century multi-colored tiled panel salvaged from a chicago comed station demolished long ago. these distinctive tiles panels were used repeatedly on herman von holst's substations in an attempt to beautify otherwise unsightly utilitarian complexes that public utilities magnate...
photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey are provided below. the digital images focus on architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located within the city of chicago. the photographic survey, spear-headed by eric j. nordstrom, is an ongoing project that in time will...
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 JANUARY,...
the hollenbach building (1912) will be the latest casualty to succumb to the rapidly changing fulton market cityscape on the west side of chicago. the three-story brick and terra cotta commercial building was built for charles hollenbach’s seed company in 1912 at a cost of 12,000 dollars...
original museum-quality 20th century american hexagonal-backed side chair salvaged from the imperial hotel (tokyo, japan), prior to demolition in the late 1960's. the iconic "peacock" side chair was designed by architect frank lloyd wright, with an original drawing for an "overstuffed chair" dating back to...
earlier this afternoon i received a small package containing a historically important relic or "souvenir": a pile of melted or fused threaded screws found in the "burnt district" shortly after the great chicago fire was extinguished in 1871. the screws were likely housed in a box found in...
carefully selected collection of recently digitized late 19th century albumen mounted prints of first chicago school architecture coupled with brief descriptions cataloged below. the collection is listed in chronological order (i.e., the most recent digitized images are listed at the top). albumen print of burnham and...