The Alestle is the student-run newspaper at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Posted: Thursday, May 1, 2014, by Luke Schmidt The Louis Sullivan Collection on the second floor of the Lovejoy Library pays homage to a giant of American architecture, displaying original ornament salvaged from buildings right before, and often...
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the trade signs found on or around the exterior and/or interior commercial building storefronts took on many forms in early american cities. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because of its...
i was virtually alone. free to explore. with cameras and lenses strapped to my body, i wandered around every nook and cranny, meticulously documenting the sulllivan ornament that was all around me. it was very dark, despite 3,500 glowing carbon filament incandescent light bulbs. the theater's...
on thursday afternoon (last week) i attended an interesting lecture given by my friend and colleague bart swindall at the auditorium building. the topic of discussion revolved around artifacts that were removed or went "missing" from the building's theater and hotel over the course of...
milwaukee is my home away from home, especially when i really want to wander around aimlessly, photodocumenting architectural details that capture my attention across the urban landscape. don't get me wrong, there is a substantial amount of terrain for me to document here in chicago,...
we just purchased a huge load of all original all-metal or pressed and folded steel furniture designed and fabricated by the simmons mfg. co., kenosha, wisc. coming across a few pieces here and there is good, but having the opportunity to purchase "simmons" furniture on...
in a single afternoon, six gargantuan hand carved limestone eagles were carefully hoisted from their perches that wrapped around three sides of the bunte candy factory water tower prior to demolition. the massive prairie school style factory complex was designed by the notable chicago-based architectural firm...
if my light source went dark, i would be in world of trouble. with a respirator, layer upon layer of clothing, clunky steel toe boots, tool belt and a headband flashlight, i began walking across this vast crawl space filled with criss-crossing structural iron trusses...
one of the fundamental steps in accident prevention in a factory setting is warning the workmen of the presence of danger. during the late 19th and early 20th century, this proved challenging because of the great variety of languages spoken. in the iron and steel...
i really wanted these prints! very disappointed. i thought for sure i would secure them at the low estimate. however, there just comes a point when you have to step down - they were more "sub-collection" material...
hopefully within the next week or two, we will be removing the staircase and massive chandelier from the south side chicago jeffery theater lobby. in addition to myself and job site staff, we will have a reporter, photographer and a film crew planted there to...
with camera gear and tripods in hand and around my shoulders, i entered the chicago athletic association building for another highly anticipated afternoon spent photodocumenting the chicago athletic association building and annex - known as the "michigan building" and "madison building" respectively. after arranging my camera...
new york city subway incandescent light fixtures...
this diminutive early american industrial iron and steel contraption - identified simply as an "adjustable supporter" or knuckle joint, was patented by otis c. white (a dental surgeon from hopkinton, massachusetts) in 1893 for use with electric lamps or lighting, that over time, would gain widespread use...
photographic composition of "sullivanesque" by eric j. nordstrom ...
the images below depict a rare, joseph f. l. uhl-designed chair patented in 1902 (considered a precursor to the slightly modified "perfection" chair) and manufactured by the uhl brothers company, toledo, oh. this early prototype was advertised as a new and useful improvement in the construction...
after photodocumenting the chicago athletic association building for weeks now, i focused my camera on the unusual and greatly oversized cast plaster chandelier at the foot of the grand staircase leading to the upper level or balcony of the swimming or "plunge" room. i suspected...
the urban remains hardbound coffee table book featuring photography from salvages i've been apart of is moving along at a very healthy pace now. i'm hoping to include a dvd tucked inside, containing supplemental material (e.g., a salvage in progress, etc). the book will likely be...
the first national bank & trust company building was built in 1920 with a heavy neoclassical presence both on the inside and out. the exterior contained an ornamental facade consisting of carved bedford limestone featuring detailed winged griffins. the interior was outfitted with nickel and...