the laverty-martindale house (1859) house was built for thomas laverty, an english sailor who came to wisconsin in the late 1850s. laverty fought in the civil war, and returned disabled from his service and was unable to complete construction of the house. in 1868, stephen martindale...
virtual repository of images representing my ongoing project photodocumenting architectural ornament designed by louis h. sullivan on and and all extant building built by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan and/or louis h. sullivan on his own. the majority of the images revolve around...
as covered in a previous blog, the bldg. 51 museum recently collaborated with the decorators supply company to make a limited edition of ornament originally from adler & sullivan’s c. 1889 auditorium theater. in fact the fabricator of these domes is historically important in their...
richard nickel images of adler and sullivan’s levi rosenfeld building undergoing demolition in 1958. with the help of the wreckers (i believe speedway wrecked the building), nickel managed to salvage some of the terra cotta ornament, including the panel being lowered from the building 1958...
revisiting george grant elmslie’s old second national bank: a photographic survey of its exterior architectural ornament. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2021. ...
the second empire style mitchell building (1876) is a five-story commercial building designed by architect e. townsend mix for alexander mitchell, a milwaukee-based businessman who was president of the wisconsin marine and fire insurance company bank, the chicago, milwaukee & st. paul railroad, and the northwestern national insurance company....
SELECTED DIG STORIES FROM 2014-2019: FREQUENTLY UNEARTHED BOTTLES OF STOVE POLISH TIED TO NEGLECTED FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT-DESIGNED FACTORY BUILDING UNEARTHING THE REMAINS OF THE FORMER CURTISS FACTORY - HOME OF THE "BABY RUTH" CANDY BAR THE MOST COMMONLY UNEARTHED BOTTLE IN CHICAGO AND ITS CONNECTION WITH LOUIS H....
the following richard nickel images document numerous hand-written picket signs used to protest demolition of adler and sullivan's schiller building or garrick theater (1892). the rally was held on june 13th from noon to 1pm. i've included additional images taken on the day of the...
in the upcoming year, i will be revisiting the sites of once notable buildings now reduced to rubble and trucked off to the landfill. before their demolition, i documented and rescued artifacts from these pre and post-fire buildings, most of which were commercial, all located...
descriptive text from the palmolive building (1928) dedication booklet and rental brochure: as it has done in new york, so in chicago, business is moving north, out of the loop, too long the imaginary compass of commerce. northward to quieter streets, clearer skies, more pleasant surroundings. seeking...
i recently discovered a collection of long-forgotten mounted silver gelatin photographic prints of adler and sullivan's james a. walker & sons warehouse building - as it appeared in the summer of 1948 - while working on the richard nickel archive housed at ryerson and burnham, art...
images documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament during second trip (november, 2021) to milwaukee in over a year. i spent the majority of my time revisiting familiar haunts along my "circuit" that arose from several previous trips aimlessly exploring the city's...
richard nickel photos of h.i. cobb's beaux-art style chicago federal building (completed in 1905) during its demolition in 1965 to make way for mies's courthouse and federal office building designed by mies, with schmidt, garden and erikson, c. f. murphy associates, and a. epstein and...
extraction of samuel stern house (1885) ornamental tin pediment and one of a few surviving plaster ceiling escutcheons. richard nickel, david norris, and bob furhoff salvaged most of its ornament. the adler & sullivan-designed residence was demolished in 1959. images of house exterior/interior taken by richard...
the time spent recording the demolition of chicago’s historic graystones, workers cottages, two-flats, and commercial buddings has been a personal hell i’ve forced myself to grapple with again and again from the moment i arrive at these sites with camera and tools to salvage and/or...
the chicago tribune tower collection, comprised of newly added and existing books, images, and ephemera, is housed in the bldg. 51 museum archive. the following images offer a glimpse at some of the earliest material, dating to the time the tribune tower (howells and hood)...
seldom seen 19th century james w. taylor albumen of william le baron's leiter one building (1879). the 7-story skeleton-frame building (supported by cast iron columns) is recognized for its contribution towards the development of skeleton construction, which was further refined in jenney's home insurance building (1885-1931)....
having trained as a scientist years ago has instilled upon me a relentless inclination to take things apart - study them intensely in isolation - then painstakingly reconstruct them to gain a better understanding of the system with all of its working parts. i used that method...
recently digitized images of adler and sullivan's 7-story st. nicholas hotel (later known as victoria and used as office building) built between 1892-1894. i've included images of the seldom seen 7th floor grand banquet hall and ladies restaurant on main floor, black and white...
awhile back i was called over to the old lumber exchange building (more commonly known as the roanoke building & tower) when it was in the very early stages of transformation, going from a largely abandoned and decrepit office building to a boutique hotel, spearheaded...