BLDG51. News and Events |

05 Jul latest urban remains acquisitions for july of 2023

Posted at 16:25h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 17 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JULY, 2023, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

27 Jun a year later: dawn manor has moved on, but w.j. newman’s salvaged chicago ornament is going nowhere

Posted at 17:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

a year later...

26 Jun photographic study of solon spencer beman’s batavian bank building (1888) exterior bedford limestone facade and ornament

Posted at 14:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

solon s. spencer's richardsonian romanesque style 4-story bedford limestone bank building (1888) was built for gysbert van steenwyk, a dutch native who settled in la crosse after immigrating to milwaukee. a major remodeling in 1927 moved the entry from the center of the building to the...

24 Jun joseph lyman silsbee’s unity chapel and surrounding graveyard

Posted at 13:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Travel by Eric

joseph lyman Silsbee was commissioned by frank lloyd wright’s uncle, jenkin lloyd jones, to design unity chapel in spring green, wisconsin. wright assisted with the design of the small shingle chapel, completed in 1886. images of the wood-framed shingle style chapel, incised stone gate posts and...

24 Jun largely forgotten 1884 american house hotel in mineapolis’s warehouse district being converted into a boutique hotel

Posted at 01:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

photographic survey of the 1884 american house hotel (converted to commutator foundry in 1910), located at 125 1st street north, minneapolis, mn. i've been documenting this building since 1999, when it was mostly abandoned, neglected, and falling to pieces (the worst of it was in...

22 Jun latest important american architectural artifacts and ornament added to bldg. 51 museum in june of 2023

Posted at 15:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in the month of june 2023. captions will be provided when time permits. ...

21 Jun revisiting kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style deere and webber company warehouse in 2023

Posted at 13:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

exterior images of kees and colburn's 9-story deere and webber company warehouse (1910), located at 800 n. washington avenue, minneapolis, mn. the cream-colored speckled finish sullivanesque terra cotta was fabricated by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. ...

20 Jun a closer look at george maher’s egyptian revival winona savings bank building (1916)

Posted at 14:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

interior and exterior images of george maher’s egyptian revival winona savings bank building (1916), located at 204 main street, winona, mn. the granite bank building was built between 1914-16 by the haglin-stahr company, located in minneapolis, mn. tiffany executed the maher-designed art glass windows and ornamental...

17 Jun 2023 terra cotta facade restoration in progress on kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style grain exchange building

Posted at 14:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

2023 photographic survey of kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style 10-story grain exchange building, located at 400 s. 4th St, minneapolis, mn. the minneapolis grain exchange building was constructed between 1900 and 1902 by minneapolis architectural firm of kees and colburn. the buff-colored terra cotta ornament was...

16 Jun detailed photographic survey of harvey ellis’s richardsonian romanesque style sandstone pillsbury hall (1887)

Posted at 14:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

photographic survey of harvey ellis's richardsonian romanesque style pillsbury hall (leroy buffington, 1887) located on the university of minnesota's historic campus district. the building’s exterior is comprised of buff-colored sandstone quarried from pine, mn., and a red sandstone found in northwestern minnesota. ...

10 Jun a rare visit to the american terra cotta company’s museum, located in crystal lake, ills.

Posted at 18:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

a little less than a week ago i had the opportunity to visit the american terra cotta company museum - located in crystal lake, ills. i was rather impressed with the exhibits, including the carefully curated selection of terra cotta ornament that the factory produced...

07 Jun much-needed terra cotta restoration of milwaukee’s historically important frederick pabst’s mansion and adjoining world’s fair pavilion underway

Posted at 16:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

the exterior buff-colored ornamental terra cotta ornament on the flemish renaissance revival-styled frederick mansion (george ferry, architect, 1892) is in need of serious repair (see images below). restoration of the adjoining 1893 world's fair pabst beer pavilion (designed by architect otto strack, who also designed...

01 Jun timothy j. samuelson’s 2023 memorial day tour of chicago’s graceland cemetery

Posted at 15:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

memorial day tour of notable late 19th and early 20th century architects bured in graceland cemetery. the highly informative talk and walk was led by timothy j. samuelson, cultural historian emeritus of chicago. ...

30 May recently aquired historically important american architectural artifacts and objects added to bldg. 51 museum in spring of 2023

Posted at 15:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

most recent architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum collection and archive in late spring/early summer of 2023. ...

28 May walter burley griffin’s william f. tempel “solid rock” house from beginning to end – and what replaced it a year later

Posted at 14:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

photographic images of walter burley griffin's 1911 william f. tempel house (interior and exterior remodeled in 1918 by barry bryne and alfonso iannelli) from...

20 May documentation of timothy j. samuelson’s 2023 “wright before the lloyd” exhibit in racine, wisc.

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

New exhibit highlights Wright and mentor From the Things to do in and around Racine County series RACINE — “Wright Before the ‘Lloyd,’” a new exhibit at the Racine Heritage Museum, 701 Main St., is now open. It highlights the young Frank L. Wright and his friend Cecil Sherman...

15 May photographic images from architectural ornament survey across american cities in spring of 2023

Posted at 14:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...

13 May exhaustive photographic survey of louis h. sullivan’s purdue state bank (1914) in the spring of 2023

Posted at 15:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

latest detailed images of louis h. sullivan's purdue national bank building (1914), located at 10 west state street in west lafayette, indiana. the richly colored polychromed glazed terra was designed by louis h. sullivan, modeled by kristian schneider, and executed by the american terra cotta...

12 May urban remains showroom and bldg. 51 museum reconfigured once again with new arrivals in may of 2023

Posted at 21:42h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

latest arrivals and arrangements below: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom,...

09 May two newly discovered louis h. sullivan polychromed lightographed tin stoveboards join bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 05:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

another louis h. sullivan-designed polychromed lithographic steel stoveboard, executed by the american stove board company, was acquired in the first week of may, 2023. the stoveboard is nearly identical to the one shown directly below, with the only difference being size - the recent one...