as a semi-retired architectural "salvager," i find this collection of images taken by r. nickel of the chicago stock building's terra cotta cornice being dismantled and trucked offsite riveting. the work is brutal and unforgiving. after looking closely at nickel's...
on leong merchants association building was designed in 1928 by the architectural firm of michaelson and sigurd. when the building opened in 1928 at a cost of a million dollars, it was the finest large chinese-style structure in any north american chinatown. the on leong association...
burnham and root's masonic temple building (1892) was located erected on the corner of state and randolph. the 21-story skyscraper was demolished in 1939. sadly, john wellborn root and the masons' primary representative, norman gassette, died during its construction. rare image of burnham &...
photographic survey of 19th century cottages and mixed-use commercial buildings in and around noble square. this survey consists of images of cottages and commercial buildings, along with exterior ornament that i was able to readily identify based on my collection of profusely illustrated period catalogs of chicago-based...
i've taken several thousand images documenting the restoration of cook county hospital's facade, beginning in 2018, shortly before tradesmen began scrubbing decades worth of grime from the white glazed terra cotta (it was last cleaned in 1953). once the facade was cleaned, i returned to document...
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...
i've assembled several images accompanied with brief captions of seldom seen photographic images of a multitude of chicago buildings captured while under various phases of construction. the majority of the historic images revolve around structures built in and around downtown during the late 19th and...
j.w. taylor albumen print of s.s. beman's 10-story pullman building (1884) likely taken between 1886-1890. the imposing structure was constructed of red granite, brick, and ornamental terra cotta. the second and third floors were occupied by george pullman's company. beman had offices on the fifth...
over the past six weeks, i painstakingly documented the "reconstructing the garrick" exhibit, from the moment the walls in wrightwood's 2nd and 3rd floor gallery were erected to opening day on the 24th of september. i shot several thousand images of its construction/fabrication and installation of ornament, objects...
group of seldom seen kaufmann and fabry silver gelatin prints of adler and sullivan’s auditorium theater (1889) as it appeared shortly after it was restored in december of 1932. the interior images were taken for the rededication held 43 years and five days after the...
the first city directory– which compiles the names, addresses, occupations, and other important demographic information about a given city– is believed to have been commissioned in london by the office of the exchequer in 1588. it enabled the mayor of london to better gauge the...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural 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 OCTOBER, 2021, have been...
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...
from a previous post dated april 25th, 2016: a gargantuan early twentieth century neoclassical style commercial building, originally built for the public life insurance company and last occupied by the plumbing council of chicagoland,...
the bldg. 51 museum archive recently acquired an exceptionally rare 1st edition of william h. birkmire's "skeleton construction in steel buildings," published by john wiley & sons, new york, ny., 1893. the profusely illustrated hardcover book with red cloth and gilt-stamped lettering contains information on...
chicago fire relics housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection: fused china tea cups from the great chicago fire of 1871. i have several other artifacts from the fire that were sold as "souvenirs" to tourists by young merchants (see period lithograph) that...
over the past six weeks, i painstakingly documented the "reconstructing the garrick" exhibit, from the moment the walls in wrightwood's 2nd and 3rd floor gallery were erected to opening day on the 24th of september. i shot several thousand images of its construction/fabrication and installation of...
fragments of chicago's past from the collections of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. objects of interest: -granite paver unearthed near the site of the 1886 haymarket riot. the massive pavers were used to support the weight of crane company carts loaded with brass, bronze,...
by the time i arrived in the summer of 2007, the nortown theater was already dead. stripped of its utilities, burnt by fire, and extensively damaged by prolonged neglect. note: salvaging/documenting the nortown theater's facade and its ornamental terra cotta was addressed in a previous blog entry,...
after reading several letters between architectural historian and john root's biographer donald hoffman and richard nickel, i felt compelled to revisit nickel's documentation of burnham and root's kansas city board of trade building (1888) before it was set to be demolished in 1968. the images take...