fearing the potentially violent protest of working class laborers, as well as in reaction to the haymarket affair, the residents of chicago's prairie avenue "millionaire's row" (prominent figures such as marshall field, george pullman, phillip armour, potter palmer and others) placed pressure on politicians to...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of APRIL,...
the excavating machines showed signs of life as they began opening a formerly vacant parcel of ground located just west of ogden slip (a man-made harbor located near the mouth of the chicago river) in preparation for yet another high-rise (the 42-story "optima"). shortly after they...
the following images offers an in-depth visual study of chicago's extant building terra cotta, beginning in the early 1870s with the use of "gray body" terra cotta "trimmings" fabricated by the chicago terra terra company using white clay from indiana, to the richly colored polychromed...
an original early 20th century granite paver was added to the urban remains collection this week, as a souvenir of the city’s early infrastructure and as an artifact tied to the wells street station that once operated at the site of the merchandise mart. the wells...
for over three years now, i've been documenting the slow and painful declination of one of hermann v. von holst's finest chicago comed substations (completed in 1924) located at located at 6141 s. prairie ave. while the building thankfully dodged a demolition permit issued in...
in an irony-laden location-- between a parking lot and an adult novelties shop-- at the corner of randolph and elizabeth is an impressive bedford limestone archway that once comprised one of two entrances to the loeb apartment buildings. the largely intact carved stone assemblage is a...
a suburban lawn becomes an architecture graveyard. richard nickel's collection of architectural ornament from demolished adler and sullivan commercial and residential buildings grew rapidly, beginning around 1958-1959. the neighbors were not pleased. richard nickel's copy of purchase order (dated jan, 3,...
the bunte candy factory salvage was a massive undertaking on a multitude of levels. the hulking structure was a 600,00 sq. foot factory, which included an administration building with a soaring water tank tower and its owns power plant building. the factory complex was considered...
milwaukee's venetian theater - an italian renaissance atmospheric movie palace designed by the architectural firm of peacock and frank - was reduced to a pile of rubble when i arrived in march of 2007. two of us spent a cold sunday afternoon pulling out any...
the following images reflect my latest effort to carefully and methodically photodocument both 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament found on mostly well-maintained commercial and residential structures located in the wicker park neighborhood of chicago. the "wicker park architectural ornament archive" continues to grow...
the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired two original and largely intact louis sullivan-designed cast plaster proscenium vault "star-pod" panels salvaged from adler & sullivan's garrick theater auditorium during its demolition in early 1961. the condition of the panels vary in addition to the finish, with...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of MARCH,...
towards the end of the 19th century the building industry began experimenting with aluminum as a decorative ornament, which had only become available through large scale production at beginning in the early 1890's. the first building to incorporate aluminum as a decorative building material in chicago...
below is a descriptive account of the montgomery ward building, paraphrased from the inland architect and news record published in 1901, and describes the many facets of the construction process. at the time of construction, the montgomery ward building was the tallest in chicago, topping out at nearly 394...
latest images from my ever-growing photographic survey of extant late 19th and early 20th century chicago residential and commercial structures located across chicago. the work focuses on terra cotta ornament adorning the armour institute of technology (1893, patten and fisher, architects), burnham and root’s st....
a well maintained three-flat red brick apartment building punctuated with ornamental floral moif anderson pressed brick, fret-sawn painted pine wood window lunettes and original ornamental cast and wrought iron newel, bracket and pipe railings (flanking stoops and front elevation), were demolished and trucked off to...
architectural photographer richard nickel’s “polish palazzo” was built as a two-story unpretentious victorian era masonry building for wilhelm grimm in 1889. grimm operated his bakery (including brick ovens located behind the building) out of the first floor storefront with the second floor being his living...
the following images were taken during a brief visit to la crosse, wisconsin (march, 2021), a small historic city founded in 1848 on the mississippi river, where several surviving 19th century workers cottages, italianate commercial buildings, and chicago prairie school structures contribute to cityscape rich...
images of the chicago and northwestern railroad terminal (1911) before and during its demolition in 1984. the station was designed by architects frost and granger and built by the george a. fuller company. the non-extant beaux arts station's exterior was finished using indiana limestone quarried...