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 pilsen neighborhood of chicago. the "pilsen ornament archive" continues to grow upon each visit...
a photographic study of george grant elmslie-designed terra cotta ornament for thornton township high school (1934-35). the mottled reddish-orange slip glaze terra cotta was modeled by architectural sculptor fritz albert, who was assigned the job after head modeler kristian schneider died in 1935. the terra...
images of tradesmen preserving chicago's historic building facades. i've finally found time to start processing several thousand images - taken over the past 5 years - pertaining to this fascinating subject matter. to see and thoroughly document "portals to the past," where materials and methods...
eric j. nordstrom's videotaped talk and/or interview on salvaging american architectural artifacts, their value and the industry at large, can be viewed by clicking the link below: https://player.vimeo.com/video/467122667 additional guest speakers listed below: ASA Spotlights Personal Property Sessions and Experts for 2020 ASA International Conference by Jessica Wilhelmy | Aug...
as i continue to stitch together bits and pieces of prior salvage experiences i often fall victim to a dense cloud of confusion and frustration when i pour over the notes and images taken during urban remains's infancy. looking back, i feel the process of documentation...
latest photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey (as of september, 2020) is provided below. the photographic images focus on architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located in downtown chicago. among the images, the northwestern terra cotta ornament adorning the dearborn station...
latest examples of custom-designed (e.g, louis h. sullivan and john wellborn root) and "stock" pattern 1880s red slip terra cotta ornament from my photographic study of 19th century commercial and residential chicago terra cotta, which i hope will eventually evolve into a book chronicling the...
latest richard nickel images documenting the removal of louis-sullivan-designed ornamental cast iron staircases and terra cotta by three oaks wrecking during demolition of adler and sullivan's downtown chicago chicago stock exchange building (1894) in early 1972. the majority of the images capture workers forcefully removing...
a recent excavation presented an unusually eerie opportunity -- to visit and later dig at the site of a former "glass bending factory" that was built there by notorious american serial killer h.h. holmes. i was aware of this history from having taken a "ghost tour" with chicago...
months after the newly-built united center indoor sports arena (home to both the chicago bulls and the blackhawks) opened in august of 1995, demolition of chicago stadium began in march of 1995 (its site is now a parking lot for the united center across the street)....
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 SEPTEMBER...
several historically important george grant elmslie (1877-1926) designed terra cotta fragments salvaged from the thomas a. edison school (1936-37) hammond, indiana) during its demolition in 1991, have been added to the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum and archive collection. elmslie's last commissions built during his life were...
exhaustive photographic documentation and/or record of careful removal of the two remaining sullivan-designed cast iron storefront columns capitals from adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell loft building (more commonly referred to as the jewelers building) has drawn to a close. the fragments will be replicated to...
a chicago two-story 1880s masonry cottage or "boarding house" with completely intact fret-sawn pine wood bracketed cornice and diminutive lemont limestone window keystones accentuated with deeply incised simple scroll motifs will be destroyed in the next week or two. a demolition permit has been pulled and...
while researching holabird's and roche's architectural commissions (i.e., commercial buildings within chicago's loop) from the late 19th century, i had a difficult time tracking images of the cable building (1899) . i knew richard nickel was brought onboard through som and/or the historic american building...
the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum archive as of august, 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, with detailed captions, will highlight some...
photographic survey of extant, but endangered laramie state bank building (meyer and cook, 1928). additional information will be added when time permits. ...
early 20th century movie-going was once a wildly popular excursion in which a nickel could purchase entrance to an elaborate architecture housing atmospheric settings, variety of entertainment and, importantly, an escape from the heat. a look to the ornament and interior décor of long-gone movie...
the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the...
another well-maintained 19th century brick and lemont limestone boarding house located at 1733 n. mohawk will be demolished by the end of the week. the historic structure, erected during chicago's 1880s "building boom," became an instant casualty after developers secured the house and adjacent lot...