16 Apr

Posted at 14:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

when companies are contracted by the city to demolish and replace structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks, their saw-cutting methods typically go beyond the curb and well into the street. the work continues with subsequent digging in and around the street, involving the removal of several inches...

12 Apr

Posted at 20:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

[caption id="attachment_29177" align="alignleft" width="1000"] the studs and sheathing along the north wall are severely compromised and will need to be replaced. with the exception of the facade, the cottage's framing will no doubt be largely replaced, including the interlocking sill plates. additionally, i would be...

10 Apr

Posted at 21:36h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

several "after sunset" fixtures were removed from an art modern house undergoing renovations late last week. the american art deco depression era fixtures were designed and fabricated by or for the lightolier corp., jeannette, pennsylvania. the super streamlined machine age electric fixtures are comprised largely of...

06 Apr

Posted at 17:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements by

Trash Talks: The Afterlives of Buildings Saturday, April 8, 2017 - 1:00pm–5:00pm LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave Chicago, IL Spring 17 Mitchell Lecture Series Trash Talks hopes to provide an alternative platform for a series of open conversations between artists, designers and thinkers in search for a more optimistic...

04 Apr

Posted at 21:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

after slowing down some, i find myself deeply immersed again in the "unearthing chicago" project long after i finished cataloging several extensively archived chicago dig sites for the soon-to be-published "unearthing chicago" book (bldg. 51 museum press) due out this year. like any other project i've...

31 Mar

Posted at 21:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

over the past few years i've been tirelessly documenting and/or salvaging chicago's 19th century brick and wood-frame cottages as they're demolished with astonishing rapidity. it's deeply saddening just thinking about the seemingly endless number of demolition permits that will be issued during this year's (2017) "building season,"...

30 Mar

Posted at 20:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the chicago athletic association (caa) was established in 1890 by notable chicago businessmen, marshall field, cyrus mccormick, and a. g. spalding as an exclusive club revolving around sports, business and social activities. in 1893 the club commissioned architect henry ives cobb to construct a venitian...

29 Mar

Posted at 22:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

the bldg. 51 museum has recently assembled several architectural artifacts from buildings (demolished or heavily altered/modified) designed by henry ives cobb for an upcoming exhibit highlighting his work. an exceptionally well-made and intricately designed late 19th or early 20th century american gothic style interior ornamental...

27 Mar

Posted at 00:42h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

i was taken aback when i discovered a seemingly endless field of debris (several decades worth) covering the floor of a gargantuan plenum duct running under the congress theater's auditorium floor. i spent a good deal of time combing through piles of candy wrappers, matchbooks,...

24 Mar

Posted at 23:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

a recently discovered cache of 1890's refuse, in the form of everyday household bottles, jars, shoes, stoneware (i.e. impermeable and partly vitrified pottery), flint glass, ink wells, etc., was unearthed the other day during excavation of a residential lot where a house built around 1890...

22 Mar

Posted at 18:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the relentless search to aquire, identify, and document historically important remnants from chicago building demolished or altered has greatly assisted in driving the bldg. 51 museum collection and archive's sustained momentum and/or growth in the new year. while the museum's core mission remains sharply focused on...

22 Mar

Posted at 18:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired an exceptional, copper-plated ornamental figural cast iron elevator panel and full-bodied eagle (the latter is an attribution) rescued from henry ives cobb's downtown chicago chicago federal building (1898), prior to its demolition in 1965. the single-sided eagle panel was originally apart...

21 Mar

Posted at 19:29h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

a vast collection of 19th century exterior dearborn foundry newel posts, tuttle & bailey floor registers, and miscellaneous ornamental ironwork hand-crafted by f.p. smith was recently acquired by urban remains earlier this week. the american victorian-era interior and exterior residential ironwork was salvaged from demolished...

20 Mar

Posted at 14:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

[caption id="attachment_28725" align="alignleft" width="2481"] theater ticket stubs found on the plenum floor. note the earlier one locate in the top left corner. very little pertaining to the theater itself has been found - unlike the lawndale theater for example, where i found several programs and...

18 Mar

Posted at 04:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

a few hundred bottles, pottery fragments, and so on, were discovered during excavation in a chicago residential neighborhood. the machine operator was gracious enough to grant me highly coveted time to extract as much as i possibly could before loads were sent to the landfill. [caption...

15 Mar

Posted at 21:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired yet another, well-executed full-scale alfonso iannelli-designed midway gardens figural head - cast from a plaster mold taken directly off the only known surviving fragment rescued from the massive "cube" fountain housed within frank lloyd wrights 1914 midway garden's indoor entertainment complex (demolished...

15 Mar

Posted at 14:46h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by

the following images represent a small sampling of artifacts and/or objects added to the urban remains catalog within recent weeks. in addition, we have discounted several items within the collection, so please revisit your "wishlists" and/or search the catalog for sale items. ...

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