i ran across a number of richard nickel letters and images that shed some light on a stories i’ve heard about "the king," fred sommer, and the "found objects” assignment. based on what nickel wrote to fellow id classmate len gittleman and someone who's...
a collection of artifacts salvaged from the ywca (1896) hotel. the building was designed by architect was john m. van osdel ii, nephew of prominent chicago architect john mills van osdel. the building was demolished in 2009 after decades of deferred maintenance and abandonment. looking back,...
john wellborn root-designed rookery building terra cotta ornament was executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. ...
images of elevator drums (two), foundation grillage, structural riveted joint columns, buff-colored terra cotta (northwestern terra cotta), and floor slabs unearthed during excavation (i.e., potholing) in preparation for new construction erected on site of parking lot that replaced jenney's isabella building (1893). ABOVE BROUND: ...
a detailed photographic documentary on the transformation of adler and sullivan's 5-story s.a. maxwell loft building (also known as jewelers building) facade is presented below as a collection of blog posts chronicling ruination to restoration. PREVIOUS POSTS (2018-2021): S.A. MAXWELL BUILDING...
the schlesinger and meyer building's copper-plated cast iron open cage elevators were ripped out in 1936 when the building underwent major renovations, including installation of escalators, enclosed elevators, and staircase alterations most of the ornament removed was either scrapped or relegated to the basement. shortly...
tragedy, or perhaps irony, characterizes many of chicago's largest construction and demolition efforts in recent history. just six years ago, vying to be the next host to the olympics, the city chose to demonstrate its bid by preemptively razing a 130-year old compound of historically...
in synchronistic fashion, a rather interesting connection was recently discovered between artifacts that had separately been excavated from two chicago demolition sites. initially seeming like a simple curiosity, a detailed 7.5" tall spelter coin bank representing the first national bank of chicago was unearthed from...
ralph marlowe line (1904-1989) was an associate professor in the department of architecture at the university of illinois champaign-urbana. his early interest in louis Sullivan (he is only one of two known photogrpahers who documented adler and sullivan buildings in the 1940s and early 1950s) is apparent not...
the majority of the images in this recent photographic survey of the sears, roebuck and company administration building (1905, and three-story addition in 1914) built by the architectural firm of nimmons and fellows, focus on george c. nimmons-designed sullivanesque style cream-colored glazed terra cotta ornament...
most recent 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...
i've carefully selected a few blog posts (click on titles between images) that focus on richard nickel's evolving style of documentation and salvage efforts for early adler and sullivan residential and commercial commissions built during the 1880's. i'm intensely interested in nickel's earliest experiences with...
blog posts on winslow brothers foundry, chicago, ills: ADLER & SULLIVAN'S CHICAGO STOCK EXCHANGE FEATURED IN JULY 1894 ISSUE OF WINSLOW BROTHERS'S "ORNAMENTAL IRON" FROM ORNAMENT TO ORDINANCE: WINSLOW BROTHERS FOUNDRY AND WORLD WAR ONE THE "AMERICAN WEST IN BRONZE" - A RICHLY DETAILED EDWARD KEMEYS-DESIGNED PLAQUE EXECUTED...
Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright Sept 24, 2021 Exterior of Larkin Administration Building, 1934. Collection of The Buffalo History Museum. Larkin Company photograph collection, Picture .L37, # 1-2a. Larkin Administration Building demolition, May 1950. Collection of The Buffalo History Museum. Larkin Company photograph...
demolition permit issued for a chicago two-story 19tcentury masonry cottage or "boarding house" with completely intact fret-sawn pine wood bracketed cornice, oculus, and diminutive lemont limestone window hoods accentuated with deeply incised simple scroll motifs flanked by centrally located floral rosettes. ...
a selection of projects i've taken an interest in extensively photo-documenting over the past few years, with emphasis placed on notable chicago buildings undergoing renovation/transformation: CHRONICLING RESTORATION OF COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL'S FACADE OVER PAST TWO YEARS TRIBUNE TOWER SHEDS SCAFFOLDING WELL AFTER YEAR OF RESTORATION WORK CHRONICLING TRANSFORMATION...
richard nickel photos of adler and sullivan's hammond library (1882-1883) undergoing demolition in 1963. thankfully, most of the terra cotta ornament was saved. the terra cotta was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta works, chicago, ills. a single smokestack with simple sandstone rondels remains standing against...
an uncanny find this week arrived in the form of a hefty, solid block of stone recovered from the basement of a wood frame cottage undergoing demolition near downtown chicago. the mottled, pink and gray rectangular block is a granite brick laid in 1883 at...
exterior sullivanesque style terra cotta detail adorning lincoln school (1915) located at 728 e. gorham st. in madison, wisc. the prairie style yellow brick building bedecked with ornamental white glazed terra cotta was designed by claude and starck – a madison-based firm that designed several building...
eckhart and swan milling company (flanders and zimmerman, architects) brick loft is well nearly demolished. additional images documenting its destruction will appear in future posts. the architectural firm of flanders and zimmerman (located at...