01 May

Posted at 02:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

the following collection of lithographs (some rarely seen) offer a comprehensive look at adler & sullivan's chicago stock exchange building (1894), including its ornament, entrances, and interior spaces.  the images are featured in winslow brother's 1894 issue of "ornamental iron" (volume two, number one) with text...

28 Apr

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

  the century of progress architectural district is a historic district in beverly shores, indiana. the district is on lake shore drive within the indiana dunes national park. the district comprises five buildings, all from the homes of tomorrow exhibition of the 1933 century of progress world's fair which took place in chicago. intended to display...

27 Apr

Posted at 15:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

photographic images of antioch baptist church (1889-1890) taken during the first of week of demolition. the church had suffered a disastrous fire earlier in the month (good friday) that left the building structurally unsound (weakened further by subsequent fires). with mounting concerns that the building...

26 Apr

Posted at 14:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

photographic study of mabel tainter memorial building (1889-1890) designed by architect harvey ellis. the richardsonian style building, which houses a theater and library, was built for lumber magnate andrew tainter and his wife bertha as a memorial to their daughter mabel tainter, who died of cancer...

25 Apr

Posted at 19:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a selection of images and artifacts culled from the bldg. 51 museum archive on burnham and roots' rookery building (1888). any and all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 museum archive. early view of rookery building's adam street entrance. inland architect press. courtesy of...

23 Apr

Posted at 04:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the facade of f.a. kennedy and company's rebuilt six-story factory complex was executed by adler and sullivan in 1884. the brick facade featured four divided structural bays with uninterrupted piers expressing the building's vertacality. the cornice was punctuated with a series of arched windows surrounded...

21 Apr

Posted at 19:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

detroit's extant iconic art deco towering fisher building (1928) is one of the most notable works by architect albert kahn (joseph fathaniel french served as architect). the 30-story building - faced with a combination of limestone, granite, and several types of marble - was financed by...

20 Apr

Posted at 14:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

several original and amazingly intact louis sulllvian-designed eli b. felsenthal store and flats (1906) terra cotta cornice blocks were acquired by the bldg. 51 musuem collection last week.  while working for landmarks, tim samuelson spent a great deal of time both documenting and rescuing terra cotta...

20 Apr

Posted at 01:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

an intimate look at john root-designed interior ornament for burnham and root's woman's temple (1892). the staircase, electroliers, and open-cage elevator surrounds were executed in cast and wrought iron with bronze electroplated finish by the winslow brothers, chicago, ills.  description of building and its...

19 Apr

Posted at 05:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i've had trouble tracking down exterior images of the mccormick mansion undergoing demolition for quite some time now. i finally found a few taken by richard nickel in 1954 last week. the more widely known interior images with graffiti on the walls were taken by...

16 Apr

Posted at 03:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

with over 500,000 photographic images chronicling the destruction of chicago's 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential structures taken over the 20 past years, i've decided it's long overdue to begin the arduous task of mining the data to create a structured database where...

08 Apr

Posted at 15:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Travel by

the following images were taken from a years-long exhaustive photographic survey of exterior polychrome terra cotta ornament executed by terra cotta companies (e.g., northwestern, american, midland) found largely in the midwest. the images offer an in-depth analysis of ornament bedecked with a multitude of glazes...

07 Apr

Posted at 15:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

a smal selection of original and faithfully recreated architectural building facade fragments (removed during prior exterior maintenance and/or restorations) joined the bldg. 51 musuem building fragment collection over the past few months. the ornament - comprised of both cast iron and aluminum - were salvaged...

05 Apr

Posted at 14:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

detailed photographic study of barry byrne and alfonso iannelli’s gothic style st. patricks’s catholic church (1925), located in racine, wisc. the gothic style box-shaped church features a visually striking roofline comprised of cream-glazed and textured terra cotta...

05 Apr

Posted at 04:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i had tim samuelson over to view the bldg. 51 museum collection, shortly before it was packed up and moved to its new location. it's currently being set up for display to a wider audience interested in historic chicago architectural artifacts. in the meantime, the...

05 Apr

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

images of a single bedford limestone walker warehouse (adler and sullivan, 1888-1889) impost block on display in the graham foundation's building fragment garden are presented below.  the hand-carved block was one of six that supported the building's the enormous arches. there were two designs - the...

04 Apr

Posted at 15:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Travel by

photographic study of alfonso iannelli-designed exterior architectural ornament adorning the pickwick theater (1928) located in park ridge, ills. the pickwick theater (1928) is a mixed-use building with distinctive tapered limestone tower and ornamental marquee designed by roscoe harold zook, william f. mccaughey, and alfonso iannelli. ...

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