21 Feb

Posted at 10:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

SEVEN FRAGMENTS FROM CHICAGO'S PAST: seven historically important fragments salvaged from chicago buildings designed in the 19th and early 20th century. every building has been demolished and largely forgotten. mosaic tile fragment from one of two interior staircase landings. schiller building (1892), adler and sullivan, architects. the...

20 Feb

Posted at 17:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

photographic study of the home building association bank building's south facade. the "old home" was designed by louis sullivan in 1914. the ornamental terra cotta was modeled by kristian schneider and executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the richly colored tiled mosaic panel (one...

15 Feb

Posted at 20:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

john vinci  images documenting the final stages of the senseless destruction of adler and sullivan’s chicago stock exchange (1894), taken in april or early may of 1972. vinci shot the building in black and white and kodachrome, picking up where richard nickel left off before...

15 Feb

Posted at 19:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the following pieces of ephemera were found by richard nickel while exploring/photographing adler and sullivan's garrick (schiller) theater a few months before atlas arrived to begin wrecking it - likely in the winter months of 1960. demolition of the theater wrapped up in june of...

14 Feb

Posted at 15:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

 the pabst building was a 14-story neo-gothic style commercial building (1891) designed by architect s.s. beman as the headquarters for milwaukee beer baron frederick pabst. it was the city’s  first skyscraper and the tallest building prior to the completion of milwaukee’s city hall, completed four...

12 Feb

Posted at 20:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...

12 Feb

Posted at 19:55h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 70,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of FEBRUARY, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

09 Feb

Posted at 15:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

examples of early commercial and residential ornamental terra cotta executed by northwestern terra cotta works (true, brunkhorst & co., lake view terra cotta & brick company, and the chicago terra cotta company acquired by urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem. the majority of the...

09 Feb

Posted at 03:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images and accompanying descriptions highlight the bldg. 51 museum archive's universe of rare out-of-print period architectural and/or building trade catalogs awaiting to be fully scanned and made available on the bldg. 51 website within the next few years.  ...

08 Feb

Posted at 16:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

the church and parish house were designed by henry hobson richardson and construction took place from 1872 to 1877, when the complex was consecrated. situated on copley square in back bay, trinity church is the building that established richardson's reputation. it is the birthplace and archetype of the richardsonian romanesque style, characterized...

07 Feb

Posted at 16:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a largely intact 19th century five-story mixed-use commerical building featuring a unique facade comprised of lightly incised lemont and bedford limestone, will be demolished in the coming weeks. located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue, the victorian-era structure was built in 1884, housing a funeral parlor...

02 Feb

Posted at 08:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

a virtual gallery of carefully sourced and meticulously documented museum-quality 19th and early 20th century ornamental metalwork from historically important american commercial and residential structures housed in the bldg. 51 museum archive. the majority of the ornament, including custom-designed builders' hardware, comes from chicago buildings...

01 Feb

Posted at 16:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

new york, a.j. bicknell & co., architectural book publishers, 1873 full sub-title (set in a dazzling array of different typefaces)! "showing a great variety of designs for cornices, brackets, windows, window caps, doors, piazzas, porches, bay and dormer windows, observatories, towers, chimney tops, balconies, canopies, scrolls, gable...

01 Feb

Posted at 08:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

three photographic images taken of louis h. sullivan-designed ornament adorning adler and sullivan buildings by notable photographers aaron siskind and richard nickel in the 1950s for the institute of design photo section project. sadly, only one of the three adler and sullivan commissions remains standing. first...

01 Feb

Posted at 07:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the following five bottles and/or bottle fragments were culled from the bldg. 51 museum "unearthing chicago" project archive based on their captivating narratives. images of the bottles and the links to their forgotten histories are found below.          MID-19TH CENTURY BOTTLES UNEARTHED DURING THE DEMOLITION AND SUBSEQUENT...

26 Jan

Posted at 06:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum recently aquired an original buff-colored ornamental and tapered buff-colored terra cotta column 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...

25 Jan

Posted at 16:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...

25 Jan

Posted at 04:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

it is well known that louis sullivan spent the last two decades of his life and career mired in dire poverty. the architect responsible for defining chicago's architectural ethos, and for raising some of the most exceptional skyscrapers would find himself in dismal poverty, reliant...

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