BLDG51. News and Events |

31 Jul ephemera, photographs, drawings, and books from the architectural offices of jenney & mundie acquired by bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 19:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following images offer a glimpse at a sizable jenney & mundie archive containing architectural records previously believed to have been lost or destroyed. the archive -which is by no means comprehensive - was acquired by the bldg. 51 museum collection in july of 2017....

26 Jul forgotten ornament from adler & sullivan’s s.a. commercial loft building joins bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 05:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts by Eric

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. ...

26 Jul wide array of old signage, salesman samples, 19th century east coast soda bottles, faries lighting, and builders’ hardware

Posted at 04:40h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

25 Jul photographic study of post-fire italianate row house interior element extraction

Posted at 22:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

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...

17 Jul a photographic study of historic commercial building ornament in la crosse, wisc.

Posted at 21:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

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...

17 Jul documenting cicero’s historic olympic theater (1927) cut short by heat exhaustion.

Posted at 04:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

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...

14 Jul bill book 1 and 2: images of original ledgers from the architectural firm of jenney, mundie, & jensen

Posted at 05:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

12 Jul sullivan-designed auditorium theater proscenium vault domes now available through bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 04:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

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...

07 Jul high noon entertainment collaborating with urban remains on documenting the death of buildings

Posted at 04:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

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. ...

07 Jul photographing historic building ornament in buffalo during weekend visit

Posted at 04:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

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...

05 Jul historically important gustav lindenthal-designed cast iron smithfield street bridge ornamental rosette joins bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 04:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

29 Jun documenting a post-fire chicago row house where time stood still

Posted at 10:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

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...

29 Jun over a decade later, nordstrom reminisces about the post-fire charles holden loft building salvage

Posted at 10:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

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...

29 Jun a closer look at george frear’s patented pre-chicago fire artificial italianate row house keystones

Posted at 04:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

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...

28 Jun eclectic mix of mid-century furniture, a 19th century copper saloon sink, keystones, and a carved cherry overmantel

Posted at 14:41h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

23 Jun bldg. 51 museum archive secures several historically important chicago building informational booklets and brochures

Posted at 19:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

22 Jun frank lloyd wright-designed avery coonley residential art glass windows added to bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 04:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

22 Jun documenting portage theater’s portals to the past

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

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...

21 Jun hand-carved artists mannequin, american radiator plaque, simmons desks, fireplace andirons, benjamin cluster sockets

Posted at 14:44h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

21 Jun hundreds of world war ii ammunition plant “explosion proof” green porcelain enameled industrial fixtures acquired by urban remains

Posted at 04:22h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...