28 Aug

Posted at 09:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

a virtual gallery consisting of hundreds of architectural artifacts (several being historically important) and miscellaneous objects discovered and documented by eric j. nordstrom during the past 15 years salvaging residential and commercial structures faced with demolition or senseless disfigurement. when time permits, i will be assigning...

25 Aug

Posted at 13:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

photographic study meticulously documenting the sad state of j.l. silsbee's largely forgotten bandstand (1897) located in garfield park. the images provide visually compelling evidence of its decay and defacement through deferred maintenance.  [caption id="attachment_70709" align="alignleft" width="1841"] image courtesy of chris ware.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_70708" align="alignleft" width="2048"] images courtesy...

22 Aug

Posted at 04:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

images of the 19th century balloon frame "specimen" library for use with "deconstructing chicago" book. a massive repository of cataloged sill plates, tree nails, tie rod anchors, brick, lath, joists, hardware, square nails, studs from demolished cottages is safely housed in the bldg. 51 museum...

18 Aug

Posted at 14:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the following images carefully document (in great detail) surviving remnants from chicago's 1893 columbian exposition, held in jackson park on the south side of chicago (hyde park). i've included two original charles atwood-designed (d.h. burnham & company) exterior arc lamp posts (used on the fairgrounds,...

18 Aug

Posted at 14:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum's extensive collection of  late 19th and early 20th century "sullivanesque" style commercial building terra cotta is presented below in an exhaustive, ever-growing photographic survey conducted by eric j. nordstrom. the terra cotta ornament was designed by disciples of louis h. sullivan's,...

15 Aug

Posted at 02:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the winslow brothers were chicago’s leading architectural manufacturers, producing wrought and cast iron, and complex decorative metalwork for buildings across the region. while their work in this capacity is well-known, the company's survival and transformation into the 20th century is less often examined. the winslow...

09 Aug

Posted at 15:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...

08 Aug

Posted at 19:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

john vinci kodachrome slides of the post-fire mccarthy building designed by architect john m. van osdel in 1872. the 5-story building was demolished in 1989 to make way for block 37. ornament from the facade, including ohio sandstone keystones and column capitals, were salvaged during...

07 Aug

Posted at 04:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i set aside time this weekend to resume scanning piles of postcards amassed over the past year.  i’ve included a few real photo post cards (rppc) of early 20th century residential streetscapes, and a seldom seen photographic view of schmidt, garden, and martin's michael reese hospital...

06 Aug

Posted at 05:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

    the  guaranty building was completed in 1896 by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan. the following images were taken in the spring of 2017 while visiting boston terra cotta valley in buffalo. i spent several days carefully documenting the building's interior and exterior, but...

03 Aug

Posted at 22:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the following images were taken by richard nickel, who was assigned to methodically document holabird and roche's republic building inside and out shortly before its demolition by harvey wrecking in 1961. in addition to providing a visual record of the early 20th century "chicago school"...

28 Jul

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

digitizing the bldg. 51 archive's chicago fire collection of objects and ephemera has resumed, with the most recent seldom seen period stereoviews depicting the conflagration posted below. the images of the "burnt district" taken shortly after the chicago fire of 1871. several images were photographed by...

25 Jul

Posted at 03:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a digital photographic inventory of  louis sullivan-designed architectural ornament from adler and sullivan's chicago stock exchange building (1894) salvaged during its demolition in 1972. significance, description and provenance will be assigned to the ornament (listed below) when time permits. like other collections held in the bldg....

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