tugboat operator james higgie's commercial block was destroyed nearly three years ago. a virtual scrapbook, in the form of images and brief captions provided below, ensure the building and its owner aren't forgotten. i spent months documenting its destruction and salvaging some of the terra...

looking over newspapers on the guaranty building, i discovered plans were announced in jan. of 1951 to do away with the original open-cage sullivan-designed elevator enclosures within the guaranty building (adler & sullivan, 1896). the "modernization" would cost 20,000, which included new otis elevator cabs ordered...

it's always rewarding when you are able to readily demystify antiquated architectural building materials - whether on the jobsite, or discovering manufacturer markings at a later point in time when documenting the extracted components. identifying the maker of key elements (e.g., plumbing, electrical, stonecutter) used during...

with the power cut and fence erected, walter burley griffin's historically important william f. tempel house (commonly referred to as the "solid rock" house) will be destroyed this week. located in winnetka, ills, the reinforced concrete house was erected in 1911 and later remodeled in...

seldom seen interior images of architects and engineers surveying wiliam le baron jenney's 1885 home insurance building shortly before its demolition in 1931.  the building's interior ornamental ironwork (both wrought and cast and possibly electro-plated) was likely executed by snead & company, louisville, ky. they are...

terra-cotta, the most enduring of all building materials, has been used to a greater or less extent from a high antiquity in continental europe, and in england terra-cotta trimmings were used in building as early as the fifteenth century. in the united states this material...

 i've slowly begun the arduous task of organizing all of the data i've amassed from years of identifying and deconstructing or extracting components and systems from chicago worker cottages erected prior to the great chicago fire of 1871. unfortunately, the acquisition of materials, recording of...

my most recent visit to louis h. sullivan's farmers and merchants union bank focused on documenting the interior, including the richly colored stained glass windows, executed by louis j. millet, the polychromed drinking fountain, designed by sullivan and executed by the american terra cotta company,...

BENJAMIN LINDAUER RESIDENCE: richard nickel photograph of unglazed terra cotta chimney ornament on benjamin lindauer residence designed by adler and sullivan in 1885. the sullivan-designed ornament was executed by northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. nickel documented and salvaged the house during its demolition in 1959. image...

in my studio one night recently, i was photographing the latest collection of bottles, chinaware and other debris unearthed from sites along grand avenue, just west of downtown chicago. i was utterly burned out, troubling over moving forward, so i quickly switched gears to set the...

a new west town showroom housing historically important american architectural artifacts and ephermera culled from the collections of urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem will open in spring of 2022. updates along with detailed mission statement will be posted in coming weeks.  address: 1820 w...

most recent architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum collection and archive.  highlights include richard nickel's audio-visual equipment used to record preservation hearings, conduct interviews (e.g., frank lloyd wright, elmslie sisters, william g. purcell, etc.), adler and sullivan...

an early to mid-1880s (research ongoing) multi-story brick worker's cottage punctuated with lemont limestone window hoods with centrally located keystones and bracketed wood cornice was destroyed early last week. i managed to photodocument the facade shortly before it was brought down and trucked off to...

a photographic study of excavated utilitarian objects and architectural artifacts from chicago's past. four of the images show building ornament, layers of ash, and common brick "in situ". the fragments were discovered at dig sites across the city prior to being lightly cleaned and photographically...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of MAY, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...

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