10 Mar

Posted at 17:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by

old chicago houses is a landmark book published in 1941 by journalist john drury. it serves as a "personal biography" of 110 historic homes in chicago. the book originated from a series of weekly articles in the chicago daily news, which ran from 1939 until...

09 Mar

Posted at 18:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

most of the images feature edgar miller’s frescoes created in 1943 at the pabst brewery complex in milwaukee, wisconsin. additional photos showcase exterior details of pabst buildings, art glass windows, captain frederick pabst’s office, and a freestanding bronze statue. this photographic survey is ongoing, with...

08 Mar

Posted at 16:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

after adler and sullivan’s walker warehouse  (1889) was demolished in 1953, its stone slabs of all shapes and sizes were dumped along the shoreline of lake michigan and remained undisturbed for over seven decades. in the summer of 2025, eric j. nordstrom thoroughly documented and...

07 Mar

Posted at 16:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

Part one: the destruction of a building occurs within a finite, and surprisingly quick time frame, but rarely is salvage such a tidy experience. each demolition spills into life outside the hours of actual wrecking, at first in the form of research to be done (and...

06 Mar

Posted at 18:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

latest images of the dying southside chicago comed station (1924), located at located at 6141 s. prairie avenue. the building’s architect, herman v. von holst, was perhaps best known for taking on the responsibility of heading up frank lloyd wright’s architectural practice when wright went to...

04 Mar

Posted at 16:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

exterior photographic survey of gerald a. siegwart's space age pride cleaners (1959), located at 558 e. 79th street, chicago, ills. thanks to timothy james samuelson for putting this building on the map long ago. we walked around the building and discussed. anyone know the original color scheme...

03 Mar

Posted at 16:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by

original 1922 signed graphite on paper sketch of an ornamental wrought iron staircase newel post recently acquired by the bld. 51 archive and museum in spring of 2026. cyril colnik was a renowned metalsmith from austria, often referred to as "the tiffany of wrought iron.” he...

03 Mar

Posted at 15:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

ideal studio and gallery space for the bldg. 51 museum archive and artifact collection. the george a. hauswirth filling station is an example of vernacular architecture, constructed around 1930 in the typical house-and-canopy style found in early gas stations. located at 1 131 south 3rd street, la...

02 Mar

Posted at 16:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

exterior photographs of the enoch arnold curtis-designed french second empire house (1868), located at 1008 third street, red wing, mn. the two story house, punctuated with terra cotta window hoods, mansard roof, and bracketed wood cornice, was built for philander sprague, who established the first architectural...

01 Mar

Posted at 16:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

exterior photographic survey of purcell and elmslie's e.s. hoyt house (1913), located at 300 hill street in red wing, minnesota. the brick and stucco two-story, 10-room, 4,000-square-foot house was constructed in 1913 for e.s. hoyt, the president of the renowned red wing stoneware company. listed on the...

28 Feb

Posted at 14:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

exterior photographic survey of the gerhard h. winner mansion, a german revival brick and terra cotta home designed by crane & barkhausen and built by a. kroening & son in 1897 for distillery owner and wholesaler gerhard winner. gerhard h. winner, a german immigrant who arrived...

25 Feb

Posted at 19:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by

the burnham center, formerly known as the conway building and later the chicago title & trust building, is an historic skyscraper in chicago, illinois. funded by the marshall field estate, it was daniel burnham's final design before his death in 1912, completed in 1913. the burnham...

24 Feb

Posted at 17:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by

"on the morning of the 9th of october, 1871, the telegraphic wires flashed to every part of this nation, and to nearly every portion of the civilized world, the shocking intelligence that chicago was in flames, hundreds of lives had been destroyed, and ten thousand...

22 Feb

Posted at 18:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

photographic images of washingtion porter's beloved kiosk sphinx (louis i. simon, architect), located at 4043 lake park avenue, chicago, il. designed in egyptian revivalstyle to showcase porter's antique collection, it featured a 15-story observation tower visible from lake shore drive, intended to be topped with a...

20 Feb

Posted at 17:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

exterior photographic survery of robert c. spencer's uniquely designed apartment building located at 6109 south normal avenue, chicago, il. robert closson spencer jr. (1864–1953) was a key figure in the prairie school of architecture in chicago. as a close friend and contemporary of frank lloyd wright,...

17 Feb

Posted at 18:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Travel by

mecca flats was a notable apartment complex in chicago's bronzeville neighborhood, serving as an architectural and cultural landmark from 1891 until its demolition in 1952. the site at 3360 s. state street is now occupied by s.r. crown hall, a modernist structure designed by ludwig...

17 Feb

Posted at 04:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

photographic survey of the painted concrete hood ornament atop stanley tigerman's 9-story self park "rolls-royce" garage (1986), located at 60 east lake street, chicago, il. tigerman entered a competition to design a 9-story, 200-space parking garage with only one rule: create a garage that doesn’t look...

12 Feb

Posted at 16:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Uncategorized by

slowly but surely swift mansion rising from the ashes. recent images of fire-damaged edward morris house or swift mansion (1892, willett and pashley, architects), located at 4500 south michigan avenue, chicago, il. i've been documenting the house since a disastrous fire struck in december of 2023. additional images...

11 Feb

Posted at 18:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

chicago is frequently regarded as a city-wide "outdoor museum" and a dynamic showcase of architectural achievement, with its streets—particularly within the loop and along the chicago river—displaying a notable array of historic 19th and early 20th century structures.  the city's architectural profile is distinguished by well-preserved...

10 Feb

Posted at 18:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by

the following images and information - a work in progress - shed light on the northwestern terra cotta company's richly colored and visually striking french art deco style "stock pattern" terra cotta ornament. early 1980s image of the art deco style chicago bee building (1929), located...

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