BLDG51. News and Events |

28 Sep mid-1870’s commercial building undergoing a complete gut/rehab

Posted at 23:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i've been watching this post-fire chicago commercial building located on west of downtown chicago for the past few weeks. in fact, i spent an afternoon (with consent from the contractor) photodocmenting the interior from the basement to the top floor. the building is in an ideal...

28 Sep several 19th century “ash pits” found at the john kent russell house site

Posted at 13:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by Eric

multiple "ash pits" were recently discovered (in addition to the documented brick-lined privies) on the site of the former john kent russell house as we continue to excavate before the "earth movers" roll in to finally eradicate any and all remains left by the former...

24 Sep exceptionally rare chicago city sidewalk vault light panel fragments available for sale

Posted at 00:04h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

i have been waiting for this day since 1996, when i first laid eyes on these unusual and mysterious iron and glass sidewalk panels found around the cast iron (i.e., soho/noho) district of manhattan. better yet, at night, when wandering the area again, these massive, interlocking...

22 Sep the beauty is in the details: the long forgotten lakeshore athletic club nautical-themed tiles

Posted at 16:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the historically important 19-story towering beax-arts style lakeshore athletic club building was designed by renowned chicago architect jarvis hunt in 1927. the extant chicago landmark is located on a prominent corner along the shores of lake michigan. the interior boasted a gargantuan marble-clad lobby, with ornamented...

17 Sep documenting the odin j. oyen firm’s architectural renderings is well underway

Posted at 01:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

within an hour after arriving home from my buying trip in wisconsin late in the evening, i decided to push ahead and not only completely unload the haul, but proceeded to fire up the studio strobes and begin shooting selected renderings i really felt deserved...

16 Sep the odin j. oyen sign and interior decorating firm “collection” is now in the hands of the bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 13:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

after waiting very patiently for nearly 16 years, the opportunity to secure the odin j. oyen design firm's "collection" of art, artifacts and personal belongings (that were formerly tucked away and undocumented) has become a reality, thanks to thoughtful and sympathetic negotiations. there are several thousand...

10 Sep louis h. sullivan-designed cyrus mccormick grille restoration completed

Posted at 00:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

i was pleasantly surprised to learn that the original bronze plating was largely intact under a botched restoration or rather, a unsympathetic and careless remuddling applied to the louis h. sulllivan-designed cyrus mccormick radiator grille's surface over 30 years ago. i knew when i purchased the...

03 Sep recently discovered exterior bronze chicago building plaques return to chicago

Posted at 17:49h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by Eric

two out of state reputable colleagues, who i consider friends that share an equal passion towards appreciating and rescuing ornament from buildings undergoing renovation or demolition, recently brought to my attention the availability of a set of historically important bronze exterior and/or building facade plaques...

02 Sep “jazz age” artifacts from the cincinnati times-star building recently acquired

Posted at 15:34h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a striking chrome-plated art deco lobby elevator directional arrow indicator plaque with pressed glass insets and a monogrammed office door bronze handle, were recently acquired from the art deco style cincinnati times-star building. both artifacts contain distinctive features that bare characteristics to the time period and/or...

19 Aug the last days of the lawndale theater (1927) designed by architect wm. p. whitney

Posted at 23:31h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous by Eric

being utterly consumed with the john kent russell house salvage (and 1850's chicago for that matter) for several weeks now, i only recently had the chance to get up to speed on other demolition activity happening in the chicago area. last sunday i discovered that the...

18 Aug most recent updates at the chicago athletic association building

Posted at 23:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

i didn't have much time to photodocument the chicago athletic association building this afternoon after spending a great deal of time "excavating" the russell house site in the morning, and having to hastily find my way to wicker park to document the recently exposed wood...

16 Aug was the historically important wrigley chewing gum factory porcelain enameled sign scrapped?

Posted at 17:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

the image depicting the delicate porcelain enameled. multi-paneled wrigley chewing gum factory sign grasped tightly in the "claws" of a wrecker's backhoe did not look to very promising in regards to the sign's fate. weeks later, a portion of the wrigley factory sign was discovered resting against...

15 Aug completely intact early 1880’s anglo-japanese style residential vestibule door hardware recently discovered

Posted at 15:09h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Products by Eric

rarely does one find an all original and completely intact residential entrance or vestibule door lockset with every component being apart of the short-lived and thus, highly desirable anglo-japanese designed hardware fabricated by the russell & erwin company, with design patents issued as early as...

11 Aug more architectural remnants added: purposeful collector or compulsive hoarder?

Posted at 10:14h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous by Eric

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10 Aug the final hours before the john kent russell house is reduced to rubble

Posted at 22:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

today marked the last day that the john kent russell house remained standing for nearly a century and a half. i'm amazed at all the changes that have occurred to the residence since the initial phases of construction sometime in the 1840's. despite the additions, upgrades...

07 Aug recreating john kent russell “assemblages” in the studio as preparation for the fall exhibit gets underway

Posted at 13:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

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06 Aug demolition of the john kent russell residence in photographs

Posted at 09:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

for over 7 hours i systematically documented the slow and painful death of the pre-fire john kent russell house, which in its earliest form may have begun as a frame cottage that dates back to 1845-50 based on newly found evidence. several yellow pine or douglas...

04 Aug the uptown theater, “sullivanesque” terra cotta and a brief visit to the russell house over the weekend

Posted at 23:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

i spent saturday and sunday photographing the uptown theater facade and its dilapidated horizontal marquee, a "sullivanesque" style building with terra cotta ornament (fabricated by the midland terra cotta company) and finally, a few hours investigating and/or documenting structural components at the russell house. [gallery ids="2991,2989,2986,2987,2988,2992"] ...

30 Jul an assemblage of fragments collected from the john kent russell house salvage

Posted at 09:48h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous by Eric

the gallery consists of building materials and other odds and ends discovered in the russell house while salvaging the artifacts that are currently available for sale on the urban remains website. a booklet and a weekend architectural artifact exhibit (i.e., containing these objects and more) designed...

29 Jul eric j. nordstrom of urban remains featured in luxe interiors & design magazine’s summer 2014 “style makers”

Posted at 22:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

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