the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired a group of diminutive first floor exterior column ornament removed (along with the columns) during the 1950's when adler & sullivan's s.a. maxwell building (1882) underwent extensive alterations (interior and exterior) that obliterated most of the street level ornament. ...
the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog. the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to...
in a previous post, i devoted a considerable amount of time to sharing both images and informational notes regarding the careful and systematic extraction of a post-fire chicago italianate row house interior staircase, comprised largely of walnut wood. the inspiration to focus solely on the...
a photographic study of selected 19th and early 20th century la crosse (wisconsin) commercial building exterior ornaments. additional information on building history (e.g., architect, build date, material identification, etc.) will be added to each photo as time permits. the extant buildings shown below were chosen...
i moved quickly to document any and all ornament adorning the lobby and auditorium of the 1927 olympic hotel, formerly known as the sokol slavsky building. Most of it had remained original and largely unaltered since time of construction, and i was preparing to commit...
the discovery of several books, photographic prints, drawings, and papers - including two completely intact and well-maintained ledgers from architectural firm of jenney, mundie, & jensen, was nothing short of one of the more remarkable finds i've run across in recent years. hidden away and...
the bldg. 51 museum is offering a first-ever, limited edition line of faithfully recreated cast plaster auditorium theater (1889) proscenium vault perforated domes designed by architect louis h. sullivan and executed by chicago-based decorators supply company. the full-scale "beehive" domes were made possible through a collaboration...
for over a year now, high noon entertainment has been working closely with eric j. nordstrom of urban remains, filming his ongoing efforts to methodically document and save fragments from chicago's late 19th and early 20th century buildings faced with demolition. the project is currently in development. ...
during my business trip to buffalo (new york) earlier this month i managed to spend a good deal of time documenting several buildings that hold great interest to me. i could easily spend days shooting adler & sullivan's guaranty building (both inside and out), but...
in keeping with the bldg. 51 museum's latest effort to acquire historically important artifacts from notable buildings and/or structures outside of chicago, a remarkable, oversized 19th century gustav lindenthal-designed smithfield bridge portal rosette or medallion has joined the museum collection - along with photographic images and...
for several decades, a maze of cramped and cluttered rooms and hallways hidden within a west side post-fire chicago (1872) italianate rowhouse have remained largely unaltered. despite being dissected into multiple "apartments" during the 1930's, defining architectural elements such as the marble mantels, solid walnut...
i was already mentally and physically exhausted prior to beginning the lengthy salvage conducted at the post-fire italianate style charles c. p. holden block (1872). a developer had acquired the property with the intention of stripping it down to "four brick walls" to convert into...
artificial stone, also termed "cast" or "concrete" stone, is a synthetic product that was used mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries to imitate natural building stones. an aggregate of water, natural cement, lime, sand, and/or various binding agents, the concrete mixtures could be incorporated...
the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog. the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to...
the bldg. 51 museum and archive recently acquired several books, catalogs, prints, ledgers, letters, and other articles of importance once belonging to the notable chicago-based architectural firm of jenney and mundie; william le baron jenney is often referred to as "father of the skyscraper". when jenney retired...
2017 has been an unusually busy year for the bldg. 51 museum. we have had an accelerated increase in purchasing historically-important building artifacts for the up-and-coming second edition hardbound, full-color catalog. this will contain our most recent acquisitions since the publication of the first addition...
the gradual process of uncovering the multitude of undisturbed objects left behind by the congress theater tradesmen, prior to the theater's grand opening in september of 1926, has inspired me to put together a book detailing my experiences witnessing the resurrection of these long-forgotten tradesmen. by...
the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog. the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to...
late last week urban remains acquired a massive quantity of highly desirable 1940's american industrial "explosion proof" hanging ceiling-mount light fixtures once used to illuminate the interior of a sprawling midwestern munitions plant used to fabrication artillery shells for the war effort. the completely intact...
i've finally made time to revisit a salvage i was involved in nearly 8 years ago- a move sparked in part by rediscovering several buried terra cotta fragments that were packed away. it all began after receiving a phone call from daniel "danny" lampa, owner of...