29 Jul more “gardenesque” discovered in the chicago athletic club association building’s cherry circle bar
despite numerous trips to photodocument the chicago athletic association building (1893), i never paid much attention to the sleek and streamlined cherry circle bar, located in the building annex (designed by schmidt, garden and martin in 1907). the other week, i poked my head inside the...
25 Jul salvage work at the john kent russell house drawing to a close: wrecking ball to follow
demolition of the historically important pre-fire chicago john kent russell house is now on the horizon. after a very long life, i was very fortunate to document its last days before it is reduced to splintered wood and rubble. we were told it was to...
23 Jul photographs and observations from my recent visit to the chicago athletic association building
detaching myself from the ongoing (and seemingly never ending) john kent russell salvage in order to revisit and photodocument any and all changes made to the chicago athletic association building, was both refreshing and therapeutic. i managed to devote an entire afternoon (earlier this week) to...
22 Jul three remarkable designed and historically important uptown theater lighting fixtures added to bldg. 51 museum collection
the bldg. 51 museum just acquired three magnificent electric light fixtures removed from the extant historic uptown theater designed by rapp and rapp. the lot consists of two matching single light sconces and a ceiling-mount pendant light with original canopy. the fixtures are comprised of finely...
20 Jul the historic division street bridge is no longer
despite being consumed salvaging the john kent russell house, along with painstakingly documenting the chicago athletic association building, i did manage to make it over to the historic division street bridge (what was left of it) to photograph its final days. by the time i arrived...
16 Jul an afternoon of exploratory surgery at the john kent russell (1855) residence
shortly after a a good friend and i finished a lengthy and rather productive discussion over existing structures from 1850's chicago, i once again prepared for another afternoon at the pre-fire john kent russell house (salvage in progress as of late last week). instead of developing...
11 Jul urban remains acquires salvage rights to the historic c. 1855 john kent russell house
urban remains began salvaging the historically important c. 1855 john kent russell house yesterday afternoon. any and all interior architectural components were thoroughly documented and carefully removed. but before i begin what will likely be a series of posts revolving around the salvage of this pre-fire...
08 Jul a closer look at the winslow brothers foundry from beginning to end
the winslow brothers foundry (specializing in ornamental iron and bronze work) was founded around 1887 by brothers william and francis winslow. within a very short time thereafter, the winslow brothers would become one of the most accomplished foundries; outfitting numerous notable buildings and residences with skillfully executed...
07 Jul the bldg. 51 website receives a complete overhaul with additional museum building artifacts and a catalog
the bldg. 51 virtual museum website overhaul was completed late last week. the overall design of the new website and its treatment of artifacts was guided by the final layout of the softbound catalog that will be available for purchase in the coming weeks (we...
07 Jul c. 1902 division street north branch canal bridge photographed by eric j. nordstrom
shortly before the historic division street riveted plate steel bascule bridge (constructed in 1902-03) was fenced off in preparation for demolition, i spent an afternoon photodocumenting it from what felt like every conceivable angle to satisfy my mind's eye. accessing the hydraulic machinery below or underside of...
25 Jun an afternoon photographing ganz hall (formerly known as the banquet hall) in the auditorium building
the gallery below contains a small collection of images taken of ganz hall (originally the banquet hall) at the auditorium building while i attended the lecture given by the architecture firm booth hansen. i must admit, i was much more consumed with processing sullivan's design elements...
21 Jun restoration of the recently acquired mccormick mansion sullivan-designed radiator grille well underway
this ornamented radiator grille, fabricated for the cyrus mccormick mansion remodel - where only two were actually installed - is considered to be the purest expression of a louis h. sullivan design executed in three-dimensional form by the winslow brothers foundry of chicago. interestingly, george grant...
18 Jun louis h. sullivan-designed cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille finds new home at bldg. 51
the c. 1901 ornamental cast iron cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille is by far one of the most significant acquisitions (as of recent) to join the ever-growing collection of historically important chicago building artifacts and/or fragments housed in the bldg. 51 museum. the oversized grille...
04 Jun another long afternoon spent photo documenting the chicago athletic association building facade
i revisited the chicago athletic association building this afternoon. i spent several hours moving up, down, and all around the scaffolding covering the building's facade. i've made a point to include images of tradesman signatures and the adjoining building, originally known as the gage brothers and company...
28 May a notable fisher building design motif: from macro to micro
the late 19th century historic fisher building designed by architects charles atwood and daniel h. burnham is bedecked with distinctive ornament on the inside and out. the terra cotta-clad neo-gothic style skyscraper was commissioned by paper magnate lucius fisher. the images here, show a distinctive figural (i.e.,...
28 May a brief visit to frank lloyd wright’s taliesin west over the memorial day weekend
on sunday afternoon of the memorial day weekend, i managed to make time to visit frank lloyd wright's winter home and school known as taliesin west, which is located on a southern slope of the mcdowell range overlooking paradise valley outside scottsdale, arizona. wright would spend his winters there,...
21 May i’m pleased that i had the foresight to carefully remove this “gardenesque” capital before demolition
i've decided to add more posts pertaining to "gardenesque" ornament, perhaps inspired by what i've discovered in the chicago athletic association building (a topic i've written about before) and more recently, my revisitation of the ornamental terra cotta elements i managed to salvage from the...