granite and concrete: parts and pieces of chicago's demolished buildings landed at lake delton during depression. images of salvaged ornament from boyington's board of trade building (1885-1929) and wright's midway gardens (1914-1929) located at an old chicago wrecker's summer cottage (dawn manor) in the dells. during the...
for weeks now, i've been shuttling back and forth through folders housing thousands of images pertaining to upcoming publications, including "unearthing chicago" and "deconstructing chicago." slowly but surely i've been finding homes for these photographs in various chapters, where they complement the text. while pouring over these...
the bldg. 51 museum has aquired additional buff-colored terra cotta ornament from the otto strack-designed pabst beer pavilion built for the world's columbian exposition of 1893. the pavilion was located in central hall of the fair's agricultural building, designed by designed by charles mckim of...
an all original and amazingly intact louis sullivan-designed wrought iron box seat grille removed from adler and sullivan's auditorium theater (1889) joins bldg. 51 museum collection. the ornamental hand-forged grille is comprised of riveted joint wrought iron with original bower-barff plated finish largely intact. ...
visual exploration of john wellborn's rookery building (1888) through light, shadow, and architectural ornament. the light creates resounding shadows that punctuate root's exuberant ornament comprised of painted iron, granite, terra cotta, and pressed brick. a work in preogress. ...
the following image gallery presents the landmark krause music store, well-known as louis sullivan’s final commission, a bookend on his iconic but tragically undervalued career. though technically sullivan was an “associate architect,” the façade thoroughly shows his hand, and hardly strays from the famous...
given that i've compiled nearly 2000 blog posts over the past four years, i've decided to begin arranging them up by subject matter, which in turn, may lead to "chapters" for a book on the arcane and greatly overlooked facets of chicago history i find...
a collection of recently digitized original 19th and early 20th century rare and seldom found chicago-based building trade catalogs housed on the bldg. 51 museum archive. in addition to catalogs, i've included a few salesman samples, post cards and other related ephemera. when time permits,...
the last installment of images documenting the final days of the former f. hyman & company commerical building (1884) located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue. i was drawn to this building early on because of its unusual transistional facade comprised largely of lemont limestone (often...
detailed photographic study of the frederick pabst mansion's ornamental buff-colored exterior terra cotta designed by george bowman ferry and executed by the northerwestern terra cotta company in 1892. the pabst mansion is a flemish renaissance revival-styled house built by the architectural firm of ferry and class...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of MARCH, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...
a photographic survey (work in progress) of pre-and post-fire chicago wood-framed and masonry houses in and around old town. some exemplary examples of wood-framed cottages built shortly after the great chicago fire of 1871 were built using materials and plans offered chicago relief and aid...
images of louis sullivan's farmers' and merchants' bank building (1919) located in columbus, wisc. i spent most of my time photo-documenting the lavishly ornamented pale green terra cotta modeled by schneider and executed by american terra cotta. ...
louis sullivan's schlesinger and meyer building (1899) underwent major renovations during the depression, including, but not limited to, installation of escalators, enclosed art deco style elevators, foundation stabilization and staircase alterations/removal, original sullivan and/or george grant elmslie-designed elements (e.g., copper-plated open-elevator cages accentuated with cartouches,...
after a week of wrecking, an 1880s five-story commerical building, located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue, has been reduced to a pile of rubble enclosed within a masonry shell. the building's transistional facade is rather unusual, in that its comprised largely of lemont limestone (often...
the following posts (listed chronologically) offers a virtual guide through my thoroughly methodical and exhaustive efforts documenting chicago's historic extant congress theater (1926), from the moment i stepped foot into the theater's lobby, to the publication of the book "lost and found," which focuses on...
while compiling a list of the most frequently found artifacts and/or bottles i have dug in the backyards of hundreds of chicago residences and commercial blocks, including the "e-z" stove polish bottle, i quickly made the connection between this seemingly inconspicuous bottle and the amazingly rich...
the five- story tyler and hippach mirror company factory building (1902) is set for demolition in the spring of 2022. a fence was erected around the building shortly after its last occupant, the wm. j. cassidy tire company, moved out. the original wood sash windows...
a richly ornamented single-sided treat and foltz-designed exteiror building cast iron column capital fragment is one of several new acquisitions made for the bldg. 51 museum over the past two months. the historically important and meticulously restored cast iron ornament is comprised of uniquely designed...
photogrpahic survey of louis h. sullivan's peoples savings and loan association bank building (1917-18) located in sydney, oh. the terra cotta ornament was modeled by kristian schneider for the american terra cotta company, crystal lake, ills. the mosaics where designed and installed by louis j....