after reading several letters between architectural historian and john root's biographer donald hoffman and richard nickel, i felt compelled to revisit nickel's documentation of burnham and root's kansas city board of trade building (1888) before it was set to be demolished in 1968. the images take...
john vinci images of burnham and root’s first regiment armory building (1891) during its demolition in 1967. when time permits, i will include all of vinci’s kodachrome slides, which were taken around the same time when both vinci and richard nickel were documenting the armory’s...
urban remains and bldg. 51 recently acquired several sections of historically important egyptian revival style spray-glazed terra cotta ornament from the non-extant walter bailey-designed knights of pythias building (1928), also referred to as the "skyscraper" of bronzeville. the building's architect, walter thomas bailey, was an american...
'Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright' revisits razed icons STIR speaks with the curators of the exhibition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago, centered on two lost masterworks - Louis Sullivan’s Garrick Theatre and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Building. by Nitija Immanuel, Jerry ElengicalPublished on :...
images with captions below: foundation work on d.h. burnham & company's 1906 addition to louis h. sullivan's schlesinger and mayer (later carson, pirie, scott and company) building. note the massive cast iron splayed footing caps. the multi-layered grillage under the column footings consisted of steel...
the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired two unusual chicago fire books (published, 1872) featuring a collection of gruesome accounts collected by writer and publisher george l. barclay. graphic lithographs including children being burned alive, criminals hung and "brained," and buildings being purposely detonated (often still...
photographic survey of lakeview state bank building's demise. the restrained neoclassical style bank building was built around 1921. the exact architect is not known. none of the existing ornament was saved, including vast mounts of dressed limestone furnished by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind. ...
the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural materials added to the bldg. 51 archive in 2019. a more focused and in-depth blog post, will touch upon some of the more notable and historically important architectural artifacts acquired for the...
one of several posts documenting 19th and early 20th century architecture located in kalamazoo, mich. additional images and supplemental information will be provided when time permits. ...
all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2021. ruination (e.g., 1850s "pioneer-era" houses and late 19th century brick worker cottages): restoration (discovery and repair of luxfer prism glass transom...
bernie sahlins (one of the founders of second city) secured terra cotta ornament from adler and sullivan's schiller/garrick building (1892) during its demolition in 1961. the ornament - salvaged from the second floor balcony - was incorporated into the facade of their...
[caption id="attachment_34568" align="alignleft" width="1200"] new york-based harper's weekly covers opening of chicago stock exchange building designed by adler and sullivan in 1894.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_34569" align="alignleft" width="970"] chicago stock exchange building (1894) as it appeared in the 1920's.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_34141" align="alignleft" width="1200"] the trading room as it appeared...
the three structures have been completely destroyed since the time i documented them last week. chicago workers cottage: sullivanesque commercial building: neoclassical limestone corner bank: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...
the st. louis-based winkle terra cotta co., with offices in the century bldg. at 9th and olive sts., and works at 5739 manchester ave., was established as the joseph winkle terra cotta works in 1883, located in cheltenham, a suburb of st. louis. in 1889...
photographic study of adler and sullivan’s dessenberg & company building (1885) located in kalamazoo, mich. the three-story commercial brick building with basement, was erected for grocer bernhard dessenberg by bush and patterson (76 north burdick street), a local construction firm. the exterior features unglazed reddish-orange terra...
a virtual gallery consisting of hundreds of architectural artifacts (several being historically important) and miscellaneous objects discovered and documented by eric j. nordstrom during the past 15 years salvaging residential and commercial structures faced with demolition or senseless disfigurement. when time permits, i will be assigning...
photographic study meticulously documenting the sad state of j.l. silsbee's largely forgotten bandstand (1897) located in garfield park. the images provide visually compelling evidence of its decay and defacement through deferred maintenance. [caption id="attachment_70709" align="alignleft" width="1841"] image courtesy of chris ware.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_70708" align="alignleft" width="2048"] images courtesy...
the bldg. 51 archive has amassed several images, artifacts and ephemera pertaining to the architectural firm of burnham and root over the past several years, with the intention of creating a "virtual collection" to be easily accessed by any and all who have an interest...
finally made my way over to forest home cemetery to see the grave markers designed by william g. purcell for himself and wife cecily. when purcell passed in 1965, richard nickel set the stones to align perfectly at the time they met in 1935. it was...
images of the 19th century balloon frame "specimen" library for use with "deconstructing chicago" book. a massive repository of cataloged sill plates, tree nails, tie rod anchors, brick, lath, joists, hardware, square nails, studs from demolished cottages is safely housed in the bldg. 51 museum...