shortly after learning a demolition permit was pulled for the destruction of the gaitain building, a south side chicago commonwealth edison substation designed by hermann valentin von holst in 1924, i dedicated a great deal of time in the winter months of 2018 researching and...
the following images a part of an ongoing project pertaining to the documentation of interior and exterior alteration and/or restoration of late 19th and early 20th century buildings located in downtown chicago. the first set of photographs focus on tradesmen working on the facade of...
i've spent months looking for richard nickel images of frank lloyd wright's a.d. german warehouse (1921) located in the architect's hometown richland center, wisc. i found a contact sheet and digitized the images posted here. i cannot recall the date offhand, but must be 1950's. the individual...
the following images highlight an in-depth photographic survey of the massive exterior carved bedford limestone sculptures adorning the facade of hoabird and roche's stevens hotel (1927). the exterior limestone was executed by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind. the beaux-arts hotel was developed by james w....
my latest photographic documentation of alder and sullivan's 1881 s.a. maxwell timber loft building offer a detailed survey of ongoing modifications to the upper floors. alterations and/or additions include the installation of wood stud wall framing on floors 3-5, sections of floor cut out in...
a photo-essay showcasing the structural ingenuity of adler and sullivan's 1892 schiller building exposed during its destruction in 1961. presenting a peculiar combination of problems associated with the combination of a theater and a multi-story office block, the garrick theater structure was a culmination of a...
richard nickel's extensive visual record of building demolitions and/or salvages in and around chicago during the height of urban renewal is truly remarkable. every time i take on another "project" within his archive, i'm taken aback by his dedication to thoroughly document a building before, during,...
several years ago i had the privilege, alongside a fellow chicago architectural business owner, of visiting the university of wisconsin-milwaukee's historic preservation department, on a memorable roadtrip to examine the original molds the university had acquired. the molds had been rescued by a professor from...
recently found and seldom seen richard nickel kodachrome images of adler & sullivan's solomon blumenfeld building taken shortly before its demolition. the three-story building with limestone facade was built for chicago clothing merchant solomon blumenfeld between 1883-1884. it's fascinating to see the blumenfeld building portrayed...
the following blog posts provide a detailed photographic survey of louis sullivan's interior and exterior architectural ornament adorning his midwest banks built between 1908-1919. A PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF LOUIS H. SULLIVAN'S 1914 MERCHANTS' NATIONAL BANK ORNAMENT DOCUMENTING LOUIS SULLIVAN-DESIGNED INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR PEOPLES SAVINGS BANK ORNAMENT LOUIS H....
the levi rosenfeld building (demolished 1958) was designed by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan. the mixed-use masonry building was built in two phases, with the first being a three story section completed in 1881 at a cost of $42,850. the second phase, consisting...
while i have touched on the importance of photo-documenting archival material, sullivan ornament and workers cottages, lately my focus has expanded to late 19th and early 20th century chicago school buildings undergoing historic renovations in downtown chicago. a number of facades are worked on each...
Antique shop owner keeps meticulous records of demolished workers cottages Eric Nordstrom, owner of Urban Remains, tries to find a story in the homes’ artifacts By Paul Biasco Aug 23, 2019, 12:59pm CDT Share this story Share this on Facebook (opens in new window) Share this on Twitter (opens in new window) ...
as i work my way through richard nickel's vast photographic archive at ryerson and burnham, i'm continually amazed at the number of structures he recorded before, during, and after they were brought down and hauled off to landfills. the documentation of destruction spans three decades,...
the following collection of blog posts reflect my contributions to any and all facets of 19th and early 20th century chicago workers cottages. i've devoted several years researching, photographing, dissecting, and amassing a sizable collection of building fragments for my "deconstructing chicago" book. while the...
with limited time, i haven't been able to thoroughly document ongoing alterations made to adler and sullivan's 1881 s.a. maxwell building as it slowly transitions from empty loft space to boutique hotel. this of course is unfortunate, since my hastily made images fail to truly...
over the past two decades, i've taken tens of thousands of images of milwaukee's architecture, and the vast collection of images continues to grow each time i visit, espeically when newly discovered residential and commercial buildings are added to my "circuit." like the work i...
the following gallery of photographic images represents only a fraction of images taken during a brief visit to minneapolis in july of 2019. the majority of the work focuses on late 19th and early 20th century exterior commercial building architectural ornament, with an emphasis on...
latest images documenting interior (floors 3-5) and exterior (including rooftop) of adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell loft building (commonly known as the jewelers' building) during transformation into a boutique hotel. thankfully i captured the interior prior to restoration work during my last visit in november...
i knew richard nickel photographed buildings using kodachrome film, but had no idea he did louis sullivan's bayard-condict building (1899) in new york. i believe the images were taken in the 1950s or early 1960s since the heavily altered storefront still retains the original terra cotta...