25 Aug

Posted at 15:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

the florida tropical house is a historic art deco beach house designed by miami architect robert law weed. built in chicago for the 1933 century of progress world’s fair, it was featured in the “homes of tomorrow” exhibition. after the fair, real estate developer robert bartlett...

24 Aug

Posted at 19:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

recent photographs of george fred keck’s “america’s first glass house” during restoration as it appears in august of 2026.the house of tomorrow is located at 214 lake front drive in beverly shores, indiana. images taken during the winters of 2025 and 2026 are included. the house of...

21 Aug

Posted at 17:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

the fisher building, a 20-story neo-gothic landmark at 343 south dearborn street was commissioned by paper magnate lucius g. fisher and completed in 1896 by d.h. burnham & company.  it is the oldest standing building in chicago that reaches 18 stories or more. charles atwood served...

21 Aug

Posted at 14:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

constructed between 1889 and 1891, the manhattan building at 431 south dearborn street is recognized as the oldest surviving skyscraper in the world with a purely skeletal supporting structure. this 16-story landmark marked a major advance in early skyscraper engineering. instead of relying on thick masonry...

17 Aug

Posted at 15:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

the richard bellinger cottage, a historic wood-framed house at 2121 n. hudson avenue, was designed by prominent architect william w. boyington and is one of the few residential buildings that survived the great chicago fire of 1871. built in 1869, the italianate worker’s cottage was...

15 Aug

Posted at 17:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

elmer f. behrns, the theatre’s original architect, was an avid student of egyptology. built between 1928 and 1929, the theatre reflected the nationwide “egypt-mania” inspired by the 1922 discovery of king tutankhamun’s tomb, with a design motif drawn from ramses ii. led by project architect...

12 Aug

Posted at 16:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

what the hell is the owner thinking? the staircase, artificial grass mats, statuary, and plastic leaf pergola are reidiculous, but ultimately, it is the owner’s choice. all i can do is document it and share my opinion. at this rate, he may have a miniature golf...

12 Aug

Posted at 14:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

"in memoriam to ida balaban katz." recent exterior photographs of rapp and rapp’s 1922 egyptian revival balaban mausoleum located at waldheim jewish cemetery in forest park, illinois. designed by cornelius and george rapp of rapp and rapp—the celebrated architects of the historic chicago theatre and many balaban...

11 Aug

Posted at 16:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by

UPDATE AS OF 8-8-2026: george kingsley and barry byrne’s historically important jackson storage warehouse building in la grange has been emptied, and scaffolding erected in preparation for demolition. handed a death sentence last night (1-12-2026). exterior photographic survey, taken in january and august 2026, documents george kingsley’s four-story...

09 Aug

Posted at 17:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

help me. recent photographic images of jens j. jensen's moorish revival style guyon hotel (1928) located at 4000 west washington blvd., chicago, il. the whimsical red glazed and polychromed ornamental terra cotta ornament was fabricated by the american terra cotta company, chicago, il. I’ve also included historic photographs...

07 Aug

Posted at 14:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

interior art deco details from holabird and roche/root’s 26-story chicago daily news building (1929), located at 400 west madison street in chicago, illinois. the chicago daily news building, an official city of chicago landmark, is a 1929 art deco feat of engineering and craftsmanship. designed by...

05 Aug

Posted at 14:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

interior photographic survey of solon spencer beman's richardsonian romanesque style northwestern mutual life insurance company building (1886), located at 605–623 north broadway, milwaukee, wisc. the landmark northwestern mutual life insurance company home office, built in 1886 at 605–623 north broadway in milwaukee, wisconsin, was designed by...

04 Aug

Posted at 00:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

like cass gilbert’s woolworth building (1912), burnham and dinkelberg’s flatiron building is being converted to residential use. partial exterior detail photographic survey of d.h. burnham and company's terra cotta-clad 22-story flat iron building (1902), located at 175 fifth avenue, new york city, ny. the cream-colored terra cottta...

31 Jul

Posted at 18:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized by

nine years later, i am still documenting the slow death of this remarkable comed station by herman von holst. perhaps someone will eventually step in to save it. until then, i feel compelled to keep reminding people that it exists—and that it may soon disappear...

28 Jul

Posted at 15:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

2026 partial exterior detail photographic survey of cross and cross's 50-story art deco style general electric building (1931), located at 570 lexington avenue, new york city, ny. the general electric building at 570 lexington avenue in new york city is recognized for its elegant use of...

24 Jul

Posted at 14:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

the puck building in new york city is a romanesque revival landmark that uniquely links historic vaulted sidewalks, subsurface industrial spaces, and specialized elevator infrastructure. located at 295 lafayette street, the building's engineering reflects the late-19th-century boom of manhattan’s printing and publishing district. the building is...

23 Jul

Posted at 15:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

louis h. sullivan’s cream-colored terra-cotta bayard-condict building (1899) is again covered for façade repair and restoration. the 13-story new york city skyscraper was completed in 1899, with louis h. sullivan and lyndon p. smith as architects. the perth amboy terra cotta company used their own modeler (anlgelo...

22 Jul

Posted at 15:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

exterior detail photographic survey of henry janeway hardenbergh's german renaissance-style victorian dakota apartment building (1880-84), located at 1 west 72nd street, new york city, ny, the 8-story city landmark apartment building is comprised largely of tan-colored brick, carved nova scotia sandstone, and terra cotta ornamernt fabricated...

20 Jul

Posted at 17:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

2026 exterior-detail photographic survey of adolph zucker and john edelmann decker or union commerical building (1892–93), located at 33 union square west, new york city, ny. john herman edelmann was an important mentor and colleague to louis sullivan. a skilled architect and draftsman, he introduced sullivan...

18 Jul

Posted at 16:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel, Uncategorized by

2026 partial exterior detail photographic survey of william van alen's art deco style chrysler building (1930), located at 405 lexington avenue, new york city, ny. the chrysler building is a 1,046-foot art deco skyscraper in east midtown manhattan. completed in 1930 at 42nd street and lexington...

error: Content is protected !!