it's become impossible to resist my maniacal desire to photograph chicago's cityscape, and that's a good thing. i'm a terribly anxious person in the present, so i counter that by living in the past. in some unexplainable way, i feel i belong there. it's no...
the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired yet another, well-executed full-scale alfonso iannelli-designed midway gardens figural head - cast from a plaster mold taken directly off the only known surviving fragment rescued from the massive "cube" fountain housed within frank lloyd wrights 1914 midway garden's indoor entertainment complex (demolished...
remnants from the site of a short-lived druggist's pharmacy (1872-1874) were discovered under a downtown chicago parking ramp (since demolished). during excavation in preparation for new development, machine operator john propeck unearthed nearly 30 (mostly broken) stephen israel mineral water bottles lying against a foundation...
after nearly ten years, i was delighted to finally come across a catalog that definitively identifies the fabricator behind a small collection of stamped steel or tin "sullivanesque" style ceiling panels i've had in my possession all these years. this was one of the more substantial discoveries of the week, so...
[caption id="attachment_28482" align="alignleft" width="1200"] photo courtesy of theatre historical society of america[/caption] [caption id="attachment_28483" align="alignleft" width="1500"] image courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 museum archive[/caption] the following images offer a detailed glimpse at congress theater's lobby light fixtures, grand staircase, and vestibule movie poster...
i was deeply honored that the bldg. 51 museum was chosen as the destination for the prestigious school of the art institute of chicago's architecture and historic preservation department annual field trip, where students engage with and carefully analyze artifacts (housed in the bldg. 51...
i discovered a sea of candy wrappers, matchbooks, ticket stubs, and bottles deep within congress theater's underbelly last weekend. for nearly 91 years, moviegoers would conveniently dispose of their trash through cast iron "mushrooms" located directly beneath each and every seat in the auditorium. [caption id="attachment_28429"...
once again i managed to reserve some time for congress's theaters dark, cavernous attic space when i revisited the theater last week to resume documenting the interior and exterior before its its extensive overhaul gets underway. almost immediately after entering the attic, i discovered a heavily-used...
last year i devoted a great deal of my time documenting 19th chicago workers cottages built before and after the great chicago fire of 1871. thankfully, the majority of the houses i photographically surveyed were not threatened with demolition, espeically on the north side of chicago, just...
the full-figured terra cotta eagles (american terra cotta company) and the largely unornamented shields they're perched on, were carefully removed from the towering gothic style arched buick automobile showroom's main entrance, designed by notable chicago architect clarence hatzfeld in 1921. the tan-colored, mottled glazed terra...
shortly before the michael brand brewery complex was slated for demolition, i made my way over there with the hopes of documenting the few buildings left standing. after speaking with, and later earning the trust of the owner (his family's rubber works business had been...
the small collection of bottles featured in this entry were recently found scattered on an interlocking pine wood floor of a privy pit exposed during the excavation of a west town chicago city lot that days earlier had been occupied by a wood-framed workers cottage -...
i spent the greater part of my day traversing congress theater's facade scaffolding, to document the largely off-white italian renaissance style terra cotta, anchored firmly against the structure's steel skeleton. records indicate that the terra cotta commission was awarded to the northwestern terra cotta company,...
in an alarming turn, a largely intact and well-maintained 19th century lincoln park wood-frame workers cottage was handed a death sentence on february 14th, 2017. if the cottage was built in 1864 as the custom plaque indicates (further research pending), then we are dealing with...
demolition of the former "mega mall" is nearly complete, with only a single story of the buick sales building (1921) still standing. the figural terra cotta ornament adorning the two entrances will be extracted in the next few days. the former two-story buick automobile showroom (buick sales...
i was in desperate need of a "break" from staring at a computer screen for hours on end while editing a seemingly unending folder of images from a rapp & rapp's central park theater (1917) photographic study for an upcoming post. i decided to just get in...
four historically important bldg. 51 museum artifacts rescued from chicago buildings demolition or ill-sighted alteration: [caption id="attachment_27986" align="alignleft" width="3427"] extraordinarily rare and completely intact matching set of late nineteenth century ornamental cast brass electrolier sconces designed by louis h. sullivan for the c. 1894 chicago stock...
i've noticed more and more cold-rolled steel or iron porcelain enameled advertising signs being dug from both commercial and residential excavation sites across chicago over the past few months. nearly all of the signs unearthed are heavily corroded with the polychromed enameled finish faded, but...
[caption id="attachment_28247" align="alignleft" width="1240"] for additional coverage and photos click image.[/caption]...
a sizable collection of all original illuminated interior wall-mount lobby bronze meta elevator "signal lanterns" or indicators were salvaged from the historically important, towering 38-story graham, anderson, probst, white-designed foreman-national bank building during a nearly completed overhaul of the "lasalle canyon" skyscraper's interior. the extant foreman...