08 Jul a closer look at the winslow brothers foundry from beginning to end
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...
07 Jul the bldg. 51 website receives a complete overhaul with additional museum building artifacts and a catalog
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...
07 Jul c. 1902 division street north branch canal bridge photographed by eric j. nordstrom
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...
25 Jun an afternoon photographing ganz hall (formerly known as the banquet hall) in the auditorium building
the gallery below contains a small collection of images taken of ganz hall (originally the banquet hall) at the auditorium building while i attended the lecture given by the architecture firm booth hansen. i must admit, i was much more consumed with processing sullivan's design elements...
21 Jun restoration of the recently acquired mccormick mansion sullivan-designed radiator grille well underway
this ornamented radiator grille, fabricated for the cyrus mccormick mansion remodel - where only two were actually installed - is considered to be the purest expression of a louis h. sullivan design executed in three-dimensional form by the winslow brothers foundry of chicago. interestingly, george grant...
18 Jun louis h. sullivan-designed cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille finds new home at bldg. 51
the c. 1901 ornamental cast iron cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille is by far one of the most significant acquisitions (as of recent) to join the ever-growing collection of historically important chicago building artifacts and/or fragments housed in the bldg. 51 museum. the oversized grille...
04 Jun another long afternoon spent photo documenting the chicago athletic association building facade
i revisited the chicago athletic association building this afternoon. i spent several hours moving up, down, and all around the scaffolding covering the building's facade. i've made a point to include images of tradesman signatures and the adjoining building, originally known as the gage brothers and company...
28 May a notable fisher building design motif: from macro to micro
the late 19th century historic fisher building designed by architects charles atwood and daniel h. burnham is bedecked with distinctive ornament on the inside and out. the terra cotta-clad neo-gothic style skyscraper was commissioned by paper magnate lucius fisher. the images here, show a distinctive figural (i.e.,...
28 May a brief visit to frank lloyd wright’s taliesin west over the memorial day weekend
on sunday afternoon of the memorial day weekend, i managed to make time to visit frank lloyd wright's winter home and school known as taliesin west, which is located on a southern slope of the mcdowell range overlooking paradise valley outside scottsdale, arizona. wright would spend his winters there,...
21 May i’m pleased that i had the foresight to carefully remove this “gardenesque” capital before demolition
i've decided to add more posts pertaining to "gardenesque" ornament, perhaps inspired by what i've discovered in the chicago athletic association building (a topic i've written about before) and more recently, my revisitation of the ornamental terra cotta elements i managed to salvage from the...
20 May a closer look at the schlesinger & mayer building’s corner entrance sullivan-designed ornament
after a long day of extensive shooting at the chicago athletic association building the other day, i purposely went out of my way to photograph sullivan's intricate organic design motifs covering the schlesinger & mayer building's corner entrance. i never grow tired of studying the ornament from...
19 May the fate of the roanoke building’s c. 1914 basement general distribution switchboard uncertain
the fate of the historic roanoke building's c. 1914 basement general distribution switchboard remains uncertain. "offline" or disconnected since 1940, the largely intact black slate-backed "open" switchboard, with visually appealing glass enclosed watthour, volt and amp meters, along with oversized copper "knife" switches and incised-letter plaques...
07 May up close and personal: documenting henry ives cobb’s chicago athletic association building facade
the photographs taken by eric. j. nordstrom were taken bottom-up, beginning at the building's midsection. the last "period" image of the building - around the turn of the century - can be used as your guide to pinpoint the locations where nordstrom's detailed images were taken. nearly...
28 Apr a small sampling of 19th and early 20th century american folk art trade signs
the trade signs found on or around the exterior and/or interior commercial building storefronts took on many forms in early american cities. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because of its...
25 Apr an evening at dankmar adler and louis h. sullivan’s auditorium theater
i was virtually alone. free to explore. with cameras and lenses strapped to my body, i wandered around every nook and cranny, meticulously documenting the sulllivan ornament that was all around me. it was very dark, despite 3,500 glowing carbon filament incandescent light bulbs. the theater's...
22 Apr remarkable guaranty building architectural artifact becomes the latest addition to the bldg. 51 museum
last week the bldg. 51 museum acquired an exceptionally rare and historically important late 19th century ornamental cast iron guaranty (later prudential) building flush mount ceiling light fixture medallion. the all original fixture was removed from the commercial building's interior lobby during a senseless remuddling...
17 Apr historically important louis h. sullivan-designed chicago stock exchange staircase balusters available for sale
three virtually identical (condition varies) chicago stock exchange staircase balusters or panels designed by notable architect louis h. sullivan were acquired earlier this week and later added to the urban remains website product catalog. the historically important and highly sought after angled balusters were salvaged...
07 Apr a few afterthoughts on my brief visit to milwaukee over the weekend
milwaukee is my home away from home, especially when i really want to wander around aimlessly, photodocumenting architectural details that capture my attention across the urban landscape. don't get me wrong, there is a substantial amount of terrain for me to document here in chicago,...