BLDG51. News and Events |

11 Oct clown cigarettes, matchbooks, tools, and unused plaster ornament found in congress theater’s attic

Posted at 04:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

i didn't have much time to shoot congress theater's interior after spending the afternoon out on the facade. before leaving for the day, i decided to lug my camera equipment up to the attic where i could capture additional images of the methods and materials...

09 Oct mike grucza masterfully restores sullivan and wright artifacts to their rightful magnificence

Posted at 22:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following historically important architectural artifacts (identified below) were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum collection with an understanding that restoration was necessary to undue any and all short-sighted alterations that blurred their intended functionality. fine art restorer mike gruzca mike grucza was brought on board...

08 Oct oscar heineman silk company factory building undergoing demolition

Posted at 14:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the oscar heinemann silk factory began its construction in 1918. a four building complex, underground tunnels were built to allow workers to travel from building to building. this specific sprawling addition, at the time, was commissioned for $100,000 - four stories, 125 x 125 ft,...

04 Oct congress theater fall of 2017 facade shoot completed

Posted at 04:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

after spending the spring and summer documenting other, historically important chicago-area theaters, i returned to congress (completed, 1926), where this project was fist launched. i spent the majority of the afternoon shooting the facade, which i was eager to do after securing three additional lenses....

04 Oct a photographic study of 1850’s soda and/or mineral water bottles unearthed in chicago between 2014-2017

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

as i continue to fine-tune the "unearthing chicago" book, i decided to share my documentation of several soda and/or mineral water bottles dating to the 1850's. the bottles depicted (courtesy of the bldg. 51 museum photo archive) were dug in and around downtown chicago from...

30 Sep chicago building fragments from john vinci’s past

Posted at 21:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

a new chapter has been opened that will allow me to expand the project of archiving historically important ornament from around chicago and filling in gaps of knowledge about salvage and preservation work. in this case, rather than directly salvaging a building under threat of...

30 Sep documents pertaining to richard nickel, louis h. sullivan, and the krause music store added to bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 16:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

completed in 1922, the krause music store was the final building commission of notable chicago architect louis h. sullivan, who designed 126 buildings, with the great majority built during his partnership with dankmar adler. the krause music store's facade is bedecked with a remarkable glazed terra...

27 Sep masonic building lighting, 19th century victorian millwork, and art glass windows

Posted at 14:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 28,500 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and...

27 Sep installation of gage building’s recreated terra cotta cartouche completed, book to follow

Posted at 04:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

the removal, recreation, and reinstallation of the historically important gage building (1899) terra cotta cartouche is complete. i dedicated a great deal of time and money to ensure that this once-in-a-lifetime project was visually recorded from beginning to end. the storefront (see below) was complete obliterated...

23 Sep louis h. sullivan’s farmers and merchants union bank (1919) in photographs

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

the farmers & merchants union bank first got its humble start in a dry goods store in columbus, wisconsin, at the immediate out start of the civil war. new yorker and businessman john r. wheeler named it “the union bank” to signify his support for...

21 Sep a collection of pre and post-fire chicago excavated residential ale and cider bottles

Posted at 22:42h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

a group of pre and post-chicago fire privy-dug chicago bottles used for ales, ciders, and porters. any and all bottles courtesy of the bldg. 51 museum collection. ...

20 Sep documenting restoration of chicago’s historic building facades: one of several new projects this fall

Posted at 04:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

[caption id="attachment_32811" align="alignleft" width="900"] chicago city hall building (1911). holabird & roche, architects.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_32812" align="alignleft" width="900"] carbon & carbide building (1929). burnham brothers, architect.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_32814" align="alignleft" width="900"] montgomery ward tower building (1899). richard e. schmidt, architect. hugh garden, designer.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_32807" align="alignleft" width="900"] jewelers' building (1925-1927)....

18 Sep existing gage building (1899) sullivan-designed cartouche painted to match its recreated counterpart

Posted at 19:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

update: the original cartouche on the gage building has been painted over with a 3-part paint - perhaps to match the recreated one currently being installed? i don't recall seeing any substantial glaze spalling from the ground, but after speaking to the lead mason working...

14 Sep adler & sullivan’s 1885 benjamin lindauer house cherry wood fireplace fragment shrouded in mystery

Posted at 12:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

the primary reason for ending nearly every post with "to be continued" or "i will revisit at a later time" is lack of time. i feel weighted down by the stress of chasing deadlines everyday. i've reached a state of mind where i calculate my actions...

07 Sep 2023 west erie street 1860’s workers cottage demolished

Posted at 15:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

[caption id="attachment_32559" align="alignleft" width="4130"] stripped down to an early pine wood clapboard - likely added during the late 19th century - the modest two-story wood frame cottage awaits its demise. the chicago workers cottage was moved around some, with the last being at the rear...

07 Sep installation of gage building’s recreated terra cotta cartouche underway

Posted at 04:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

for the first time in several months, i looked up at the gage building's brick cavity - where one of the two louis h. sullivan-designed terra cotta cartouches had resided since 1901 - to see a single piece (identified as "ct5l" on the graphic below)...

01 Sep photographic study of buried remnants from 19th and early 20th century chicago

Posted at 22:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts by Eric

excavations across the city of chicago have led to the discovery of thousands of artifacts; remnants left behind and forgotten by people living here in the late 19th and early 20th century. from completely intact and brightly colored bottles, to the well-preserved wood floors of residential...

30 Aug an afternoon at chicago’s cemetery of architects

Posted at 22:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

i spent a few hours wandering around graceland cemetery (est. 1860) the other weekend. i briefly visited several grave sites, seeking out the stones denoting where notable persons from chicago's past were laid to rest. special attention was given to a few of the architects whose...

30 Aug recreated pieces of louis h. sullivan gage building’s cartouche arrive in chicago

Posted at 19:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

i was recently notified that recreated gage building (1899) terra cotta sections have made their way to chicago, were they await installation below the building's roofline. this brick-exposed cavity once contained one of two of sullivan-designed cartouches; the original, removed during extensive rehabilitation of the...

30 Aug boston valley terra cotta factory visit

Posted at 17:40h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Press, Travel by Eric

Boston Valley Terra Cotta’s Master Sculptors Restoring Chicago’s Gage Building June 22, 2017|Blog, Gage Building, News/Events Boston Valley Terra Cotta has been making progress on the very detailed, ornamental terra cotta facade restoration of the Gage Building in Chicago. Designed by architect Louis Sullivan in 1899, the Gage Building’s Art Nouveau...