rarely seen richard nickel photographs of burnham and root's kansas city board of trade building (1888) shortly before it was demolished in 1968. a year before, the building owners terminated maintenance, turned off heat and electricity, and chained the doors shut. thankfully ornamental iron (bower-barff finish) located...
the chicago balloon frame: beyond "boards and nails." over the past three years, i've collected a considerable amount of photographic images and historic building materials housed in a storage facility in preparation for my "deconstructing chicago" project, which aims to address an increasing number of anomalies...
seldom seen richard nickel contact sheet images of burnham and root's george h. wheeler residence (1884) taken shortly before it was set to be demolished in 1968. the house situated between wheeler and h.h. richardson's extant glessner house (1887) to the north, was cobb and frost's...
the following collection of lithographs (some rarely seen) offer a comprehensive look at adler & sullivan's chicago stock exchange building (1894), including its ornament, entrances, and interior spaces. the images are featured in winslow brother's 1894 issue of "ornamental iron" (volume two, number one) with text...
the century of progress architectural district is a historic district in beverly shores, indiana. the district is on lake shore drive within the indiana dunes national park. the district comprises five buildings, all from the homes of tomorrow exhibition of the 1933 century of progress world's fair which took place in chicago. intended to display...
photographic images of antioch baptist church (1889-1890) taken during the first of week of demolition. the church had suffered a disastrous fire earlier in the month (good friday) that left the building structurally unsound (weakened further by subsequent fires). with mounting concerns that the building...
photographic study of mabel tainter memorial building (1889-1890) designed by architect harvey ellis. the richardsonian style building, which houses a theater and library, was built for lumber magnate andrew tainter and his wife bertha as a memorial to their daughter mabel tainter, who died of cancer...
a selection of images and artifacts culled from the bldg. 51 museum archive on burnham and roots' rookery building (1888). any and all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 museum archive. early view of rookery building's adam street entrance. inland architect press. courtesy of...
the facade of f.a. kennedy and company's rebuilt six-story factory complex was executed by adler and sullivan in 1884. the brick facade featured four divided structural bays with uninterrupted piers expressing the building's vertacality. the cornice was punctuated with a series of arched windows surrounded...
detroit's extant iconic art deco towering fisher building (1928) is one of the most notable works by architect albert kahn (joseph fathaniel french served as architect). the 30-story building - faced with a combination of limestone, granite, and several types of marble - was financed by...
several original and amazingly intact louis sulllvian-designed eli b. felsenthal store and flats (1906) terra cotta cornice blocks were acquired by the bldg. 51 musuem collection last week. while working for landmarks, tim samuelson spent a great deal of time both documenting and rescuing terra cotta...
aftermath. images of antioch missionary baptist church shortly after it was badly damaged by fire on good friday. built as the baptist church of englewood, the rock-faced romanesque style building was designed by the architectural firm of bell and swift...
an intimate look at john root-designed interior ornament for burnham and root's woman's temple (1892). the staircase, electroliers, and open-cage elevator surrounds were executed in cast and wrought iron with bronze electroplated finish by the winslow brothers, chicago, ills. description of building and its...
i've had trouble tracking down exterior images of the mccormick mansion undergoing demolition for quite some time now. i finally found a few taken by richard nickel in 1954 last week. the more widely known interior images with graffiti on the walls were taken by...
with over 500,000 photographic images chronicling the destruction of chicago's 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential structures taken over the 20 past years, i've decided it's long overdue to begin the arduous task of mining the data to create a structured database where...
schoenhofen brewery powerhouse designed in 1902 by architectural firm of schmidt, garden, and martin. the exterior is comprised of brick, indiana limestone and terra cotta. ...
i hope to devote a day or two a week for the next few years, carefully combing through the richard nickel archive at the ryerson and burnham library, where i'm finding immense satisfaction in discovering and resurrecting long-forgotten historically important images of nickel's unrelenting commitment...
a smal selection of original and faithfully recreated architectural building facade fragments (removed during prior exterior maintenance and/or restorations) joined the bldg. 51 musuem building fragment collection over the past few months. the ornament - comprised of both cast iron and aluminum - were salvaged...
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 APRIL, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...
detailed photographic study of barry byrne and alfonso iannelli’s gothic style st. patricks’s catholic church (1925), located in racine, wisc. the gothic style box-shaped church features a visually striking roofline comprised of cream-glazed and textured terra cotta...