after carefully studying and documenting adler and sullivan’s s.a. maxwell loft building (1881) over the past several weeks construction workers peeled back layer after layer of alterations revealing how much of its original historic fabric was stripped off dating back to the time its original...
i finally had the opportunity to visit and meticulously document louis sullivan's purdue state bank (completed in 1914) over the weekend. the images (see below) are all exterior with an emphasis placed on the richly colored glazed terra cotta and tapestry brick. located in west lafayette,...
the bld. 51 museum houses one of the most comprehensive and diverse collection of late 19th and early 20th century terra cotta ornament from historically important chicago buildings. the following images represent a fraction of ornament on display and/or in storage that has been meticulously...
contact print one: ornament salvaged from the albert sullivan residence (1891): [caption id="attachment_36304" align="alignleft" width="781"] contact sheet number one. the artifacts were salvaged from adler & sullivan's albert sullivan residence (1892).[/caption] [caption id="attachment_36302" align="alignleft" width="1200"] the cast plaster escutcheon was salvaged by john vinci and/or robert furhoff...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...
a selection of stories from 2019: over a decade devoted to documenting and salvaging chicago's architectural past a look back at images of tribune tower's continued transformation in 2019 documenting louis sullivan-designed carved berlin sandstone panels on facade of 1881 s.a. maxwell loft building bldg. 51 and ryerson archive...
outside of urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem, i've been relentlessly pursing several obsessional exploits for years now. from deconstructing chicago cottages to documenting objects tradesmen left behind in the domes of chicago movie palaces, i've come to realize i'm long overdue to gather...
the following links provide access to hundreds of images taken of 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant residential and commercial structures in and around downtown milwaukee, taken over the past several years. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive. WEEKEND...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...
one day i received a call from the general manager at hotel burnham (named after notable chicago architect daniel burnham), which is downtown chicago hotel that currently occupies the reliance building, completed march, 1895. prior to being converted into a boutique hotel, the building sat...
within a week's time, i discovered that an amazingly intact 1880s brick two flat residence, jefferson hospital (1922, f.o. demoney) and a 19th century richardsonian romanesque apartment building with a rusticated and finely carved bedford limestone facade are either undergoing demolition or will be within...
late last week urban remains purchased a massive collection of 19th century american victorian era majolica glazed residential fireplace tile sets salvaged over the past few decades from chicago two and three-flat greystones undergoing demolition. the majority of the richly ornamented and deeply embossed fireplace...
the following gallery below represents a small fraction of images culled from the ongoing 19th and early 20th century photographic survey of architectural ornament adorning extant commercial and residential buildings across the city of chicago. any and all images have been meticulously cataloged and printed...
during a recent visit to chicago's pilsen neighborhood to document and salvage ornament from two 19th century cottages undergoing demolition, i carved out time, including repeated visits to begin surveying and photographing 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential structures that remain amazingly well-maintained,...
the use of indiana limestone — also known as bedford limestone — has been instrumental as a building material for both residential and commercial building since the late 19th century. indiana limestone was primarily quarried in south central indiana, between the cities of bloomington and...
the following images were chosen from my ever-growing photographic survey of extant late 19th and early 20th century chicago residential and commercial structures located across chicago. most, if not all the work, was done on the south side of chicago, with an emphasis on ornament...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...
a collection of historically-important architectural ornament, comprised of sullivan-designed ornament salvaged from adler and sullivan's guaranty building (1896), and an exterior brick wall fragment recovered during demolition of frank lloyd wright's larkin building (1904-1906) during its demolition in 1950, was purchased for the bldg. 51...
images documenting removal of iconic 1950s-era signage from the used ok'd cars dealership located at 846 n. western ave. on the west side of chicago. sadly, the building and surrounding lot will be demolished, but the signs will live on elsewhere. ...
latest digitized images from chicago architect john vinci's collection of kodachrome and/or ektachrome slides and other photographic images/ephemera are presented below. to see previous posts containing images from this ever-growing collection, please click on links under "further reading." captions will be added to the slides as time...