15 May

Posted at 15:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

an original custom-designed, black enameled ornamental cast iron interior angled staircase baluster and basement encaustic floor tile - salvaged from edbrooke and burnham's mecca hotel or flats (1892) during its untimely demolition in 1952 -  joined the bldg. 51 museum last month. ...

12 May

Posted at 15:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

unpublished louis magnue melander photographic images (scanned from recently discovered stereoscopic glass plate negatives) of the 1893 world columbian exposition taken shortly after it "officially" closed on october 30th, 1893. the complete set of images will be published in book format in 2026.  ...

09 May

Posted at 23:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the following images - scanned/digitized directly from original glass plate negatives - offer a surrealistic and striking glimpse of adler and sullivan's transportation building taken by louis magnue melander, who extensively documented the life cycle of the 1893 chicago world's fair or columbian exposition through...

02 May

Posted at 15:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

on saturday afternoon i arrived at the salerno cookie factory, or rather what was left of it, after a wrecking company hastily tore down the long stretch of the building's facade. this was comprised of red brick divided by cast concrete columns, accentuated with brightly colored...

30 Apr

Posted at 15:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 archive recently amassed a large collection of early 20th century building trade journal or periodical advertisements pertaining to various examples of terra cotta ornament (often accompanied by commission and/ or architect) fabricated by the american, midland, and northwestern terra cotta companies -...

28 Apr

Posted at 17:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

detail photographic images (taken in april of 2025) of faber and pagel's romanesque revival style thalia hall (1892), located at 1807 south allport street, chicago, il.  the mixed-use building (i.e., retail on ground floors and residential on upper floors, in addition to the theater) was built...

24 Apr

Posted at 15:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

2017 photographic images of eero saarinen's mit chapel (1955-56) located at 48 massachusetts avenue, cambridge, ma. the interior contains an incredible full-height harry bertoia metal sculpture from skylight to marble alter. the rooftop aluminum spire and bell tower were designed by sculptor theodore roszak. ...

22 Apr

Posted at 15:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

demolition images of stephen v. shipman's 1888 daniel a. jones memorial hospital building located at 1753 west congress parkway, chicago, il. the majority of the red slip-glazed terra cotta (fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company) was salvaged during its demolition in the spring of 2016. ...

21 Apr

Posted at 02:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

data dump, 2007. rediscovered unedited images taken of george l. pfeiffer's vorwaerts turner hall (1897), when abandoned and later partially demolished. the bedford greystone german turner hall is located at 2431 west roosevelt road, chicago, il. the architect's door with acid-etched glass panel was found in the basment...

19 Apr

Posted at 16:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest images of the dying southside chicago comed station (1924), located at located at 6141 s. prairie avenue. the building's architect, herman v. von holst, was perhaps best known for taking on the responsibility of heading up frank lloyd wright's architectural practice when wright went to...

17 Apr

Posted at 14:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

small selection of depression-era (mostly) photographic images (scanned from original glass negatives) of chicago taken by photographer fred g. korth (1902-1983). korth emigrated to chicago from germany in 1926 where he learned photography. shortly thereafter, he became a member of the dearborn camera club and exhibited...

15 Apr

Posted at 17:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

richard nickel images – selected from multiple contact sheets – showing the extraction of louis h. sullivan-designed cast iron spandrel panels from the 5-story rothschild building (1881) during its demolition in 1972. the upper facade contained twelve cast iron spandrel panels divided by three...

10 Apr

Posted at 16:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

  the bldg. 51 archive and museum recently acquired notable chicago photographer richard nickel's institute of design (founded in 1936) student photo album dating to the 1950s. the images and related ephemera were pasted on cover and each of the black pages within the unbound scrapbook...

10 Apr

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

exterior detail images of jenney and mundie's of jenney and mundie's 16-story central y.m.c.a. building (1893), located at 19 south lasalle street, chicago, il. the red-tiled tower or peaked roof was replaced with four stories (date?). the terra cotta cornice was removed in the 1950s? the glazed...

07 Apr

Posted at 17:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

 eric j. nordstrom photographic images of henry ives cobb's chicago athletic association building facade as it appeared prior to restoration in 2013-2014. i spent nearly a week out on the scaffolding documenting the facade from top to bottom. i discovered multiple lightly incised signatures including george...

06 Apr

Posted at 16:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

cutoff on california. exterior images of a late 19th century three-story residential masonry building, punctuated with carved and rough-faced limestone, stamped steel cornice, and pyramid-shaped shingled turret, located at 104 south california avenue, chicago, il. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom...

01 Apr

Posted at 17:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

photographic survey of edward townsend mix and burnham and root's three-story victorian style brick, terra cottta, and sandstone milwaukee club building (1883), located at 706 north jefferson street, milwaukee, wisconsin.  the building's exterior is faced with red brick, lake superior sandstone, and terra cotta ornament.    ...

01 Apr

Posted at 15:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

another data dump from 2009. raw and unedited images of john m. van osdel ii's 1896 ywca hotel, located at 830 south michigan avenue, chicago, il. the building was designed by architect was john m. van osdel ii, nephew of prominent chicago architect john mills van...

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