with over 500,000 photographic images chronicling the destruction of chicago's 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential structures taken over the 20 past years, i've decided it's long overdue to begin the arduous task of mining the data to create a structured database where...
schoenhofen brewery powerhouse designed in 1902 by architectural firm of schmidt, garden, and martin. the exterior is comprised of brick, indiana limestone and terra cotta. ...
i hope to devote a day or two a week for the next few years, carefully combing through the richard nickel archive at the ryerson and burnham library, where i'm finding immense satisfaction in discovering and resurrecting long-forgotten historically important images of nickel's unrelenting commitment...
the following images were taken from a years-long exhaustive photographic survey of exterior polychrome terra cotta ornament executed by terra cotta companies (e.g., northwestern, american, midland) found largely in the midwest. the images offer an in-depth analysis of ornament bedecked with a multitude of glazes...
a smal selection of original and faithfully recreated architectural building facade fragments (removed during prior exterior maintenance and/or restorations) joined the bldg. 51 musuem building fragment collection over the past few months. the ornament - comprised of both cast iron and aluminum - were salvaged...
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 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of APRIL, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...
detailed photographic study of barry byrne and alfonso iannelli’s gothic style st. patricks’s catholic church (1925), located in racine, wisc. the gothic style box-shaped church features a visually striking roofline comprised of cream-glazed and textured terra cotta...
i had tim samuelson over to view the bldg. 51 museum collection, shortly before it was packed up and moved to its new location. it's currently being set up for display to a wider audience interested in historic chicago architectural artifacts. in the meantime, the...
images of a single bedford limestone walker warehouse (adler and sullivan, 1888-1889) impost block on display in the graham foundation's building fragment garden are presented below. the hand-carved block was one of six that supported the building's the enormous arches. there were two designs - the...
photographic study of alfonso iannelli-designed exterior architectural ornament adorning the pickwick theater (1928) located in park ridge, ills. the pickwick theater (1928) is a mixed-use building with distinctive tapered limestone tower and ornamental marquee designed by roscoe harold zook, william f. mccaughey, and alfonso iannelli. ...
two original early 20th century profusely illustrated architectural building trade catalogs printed for the chicago-based decorators supply company and friedley-voshardt were aquired by the bldg. 51 archive last week. the soft-bound product catalogs contain detailed descriptions and images of chicago-based showrooms, offices, and factories. in...
the following images provide an extensive photographic survey of 19th century building hardware designed by louis h. sullivan during his time at the architectural firm of adler and sullivan. the majority of the hardware was fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. company of stamford,...
granite and concrete: parts and pieces of chicago's demolished buildings landed at lake delton during depression. images of salvaged ornament from boyington's board of trade building (1885-1929) and wright's midway gardens (1914-1929) located at an old chicago wrecker's summer cottage (dawn manor) in the dells. during the...
for weeks now, i've been shuttling back and forth through folders housing thousands of images pertaining to upcoming publications, including "unearthing chicago" and "deconstructing chicago." slowly but surely i've been finding homes for these photographs in various chapters, where they complement the text. while pouring over these...
the bldg. 51 museum has aquired additional buff-colored terra cotta ornament from the otto strack-designed pabst beer pavilion built for the world's columbian exposition of 1893. the pavilion was located in central hall of the fair's agricultural building, designed by designed by charles mckim of...
an all original and amazingly intact louis sullivan-designed wrought iron box seat grille removed from adler and sullivan's auditorium theater (1889) joins bldg. 51 museum collection. the ornamental hand-forged grille is comprised of riveted joint wrought iron with original bower-barff plated finish largely intact. ...
visual exploration of john wellborn's rookery building (1888) through light, shadow, and architectural ornament. the light creates resounding shadows that punctuate root's exuberant ornament comprised of painted iron, granite, terra cotta, and pressed brick. a work in preogress. ...
the following image gallery presents the landmark krause music store, well-known as louis sullivan’s final commission, a bookend on his iconic but tragically undervalued career. though technically sullivan was an “associate architect,” the façade thoroughly shows his hand, and hardly strays from the famous...
given that i've compiled nearly 2000 blog posts over the past four years, i've decided to begin arranging them up by subject matter, which in turn, may lead to "chapters" for a book on the arcane and greatly overlooked facets of chicago history i find...
a collection of recently digitized original 19th and early 20th century rare and seldom found chicago-based building trade catalogs housed on the bldg. 51 museum archive. in addition to catalogs, i've included a few salesman samples, post cards and other related ephemera. when time permits,...