the following collection of important and seldom seen original real photo postcards (rppc) represents just a fraction of materials currently being digitized from the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum and archive, housed in chicago and owned and maintained by eric j. nordstrom. early 20th century real...
urban remains recently acquired one of the largest known collections of original 19th century american victorian-era salvaged chicago majolica figural tiles and fireplace surrounds executed in a multitude of rich color schemes and elaborate designs. examples from this remarkable collection are shown below. update as of...
the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired late 19th century original and completely intact brand brewery administration building terra cotta roofline ornament executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the remarkable and historically important ornamental square-shaped block was salvaged from the brewery complex during...
demolition in glencoe on the horizon. images from a visual record i made of the sprawling estate of h. earl hoover (nephew of william h. hoover), who purchased the land in 1922 and commissioned architect william furst of armstrong, furst and tilton to design the tudor...
when companies are contracted by the developers to extricate structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks and alleys in and around sites to be excavated for future construction, work continues with subsequent digging to remove concrete and asphalt, which in many cases, leads to the discovery of well-preserved...
with more and more projects piling up, including taking over a thousand images of the congress theater (completed 1926, fridstein & company, architects) the other day before it undergoes an extensive rehabilitation this spring, i've decided to simply begin posting images of central park theater's...
last weekend i spent the afternoon with tim samuelson, which included a visit to his frank lloyd wright exhibit located at the elmhurst museum of art to drop off garrick theater terra cotta ornament for one of the architectural artifact installations. i took advantage of...
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 NOVEMBER...
the following selection of photographs offers a rare glimpse into the bldg. 51 museum, taken over the past few years. new acquisitions are continually being added to this ever-growing repository of historically important building artifacts; to enrich narratives, contribute to and expand upon existing exhibits,...
the following images reflect my latest effort to carefully and methodically photodocument both 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament found on mostly well-maintained commercial and residential structures located in the pilsen neighborhood of chicago. the "pilsen ornament archive" continues to grow upon each visit...
a photographic study of george grant elmslie-designed terra cotta ornament for thornton township high school (1934-35). the mottled reddish-orange slip glaze terra cotta was modeled by architectural sculptor fritz albert, who was assigned the job after head modeler kristian schneider died in 1935. the terra...
images of tradesmen preserving chicago's historic building facades. i've finally found time to start processing several thousand images - taken over the past 5 years - pertaining to this fascinating subject matter. to see and thoroughly document "portals to the past," where materials and methods...
eric j. nordstrom's videotaped talk and/or interview on salvaging american architectural artifacts, their value and the industry at large, can be viewed by clicking the link below: https://player.vimeo.com/video/467122667 additional guest speakers listed below: ASA Spotlights Personal Property Sessions and Experts for 2020 ASA International Conference by Jessica Wilhelmy | Aug...
as i continue to stitch together bits and pieces of prior salvage experiences i often fall victim to a dense cloud of confusion and frustration when i pour over the notes and images taken during urban remains's infancy. looking back, i feel the process of documentation...
latest photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey (as of september, 2020) is provided below. the photographic images focus on architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located in downtown chicago. among the images, the northwestern terra cotta ornament adorning the dearborn station...
latest examples of custom-designed (e.g, louis h. sullivan and john wellborn root) and "stock" pattern 1880s red slip terra cotta ornament from my photographic study of 19th century commercial and residential chicago terra cotta, which i hope will eventually evolve into a book chronicling the...
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...
a recent excavation presented an unusually eerie opportunity -- to visit and later dig at the site of a former "glass bending factory" that was built there by notorious american serial killer h.h. holmes. i was aware of this history from having taken a "ghost tour" with chicago...
months after the newly-built united center indoor sports arena (home to both the chicago bulls and the blackhawks) opened in august of 1995, demolition of chicago stadium began in march of 1995 (its site is now a parking lot for the united center across the street)....
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 SEPTEMBER...