05 Apr

Posted at 04:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i had tim samuelson over to view the bldg. 51 museum collection, shortly before it was packed up and moved to its new location. it's currently being set up for display to a wider audience interested in historic chicago architectural artifacts. in the meantime, the...

05 Apr

Posted at 02:51h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

images of a single bedford limestone walker warehouse (adler and sullivan, 1888-1889) impost block on display in the graham foundation's building fragment garden are presented below.  the hand-carved block was one of six that supported the building's the enormous arches. there were two designs - the...

29 Mar

Posted at 21:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

two original early 20th century profusely illustrated architectural building trade catalogs printed for the chicago-based decorators supply company and friedley-voshardt were aquired by the bldg. 51 archive last week. the soft-bound product catalogs contain detailed descriptions and images of chicago-based showrooms, offices, and factories. in...

29 Mar

Posted at 04:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images provide an extensive photographic survey of 19th century building hardware designed by louis h. sullivan during his time at the architectural firm of adler and sullivan. the majority of the hardware was fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. company of stamford,...

28 Mar

Posted at 15:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

  granite and concrete: parts and pieces of chicago's demolished buildings landed at lake delton during depression. images of salvaged ornament from boyington's board of trade building (1885-1929) and wright's midway gardens (1914-1929) located at an old chicago wrecker's summer cottage (dawn manor) in the dells. during the...

26 Mar

Posted at 01:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

for weeks now, i've been shuttling back and forth through folders housing thousands of images pertaining to upcoming publications, including "unearthing chicago" and "deconstructing chicago." slowly but surely i've been finding homes for these photographs in various chapters, where they complement the text. while pouring over these...

26 Mar

Posted at 00:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum has aquired additional buff-colored terra cotta ornament from the otto strack-designed pabst beer pavilion built for the world's columbian exposition of 1893. the pavilion was located in central hall of the fair's agricultural building, designed by designed by charles mckim of...

23 Mar

Posted at 03:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

  the following image gallery presents the landmark krause music store, well-known as louis sullivan’s final commission, a bookend on his iconic but tragically undervalued career. though technically sullivan was an “associate architect,” the façade thoroughly shows his hand, and hardly strays from the famous...

23 Mar

Posted at 01:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a collection of recently digitized original 19th and early 20th century rare and seldom found chicago-based building trade catalogs housed on the bldg. 51 museum archive. in addition to catalogs, i've included a few salesman samples, post cards and other related ephemera. when time permits,...

16 Mar

Posted at 15:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

the last installment of images documenting the final days of the former f. hyman & company commerical building (1884)  located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue. i was drawn to this building early on because of its unusual transistional facade comprised largely of lemont limestone (often...

15 Mar

Posted at 17:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

detailed photographic study of the frederick pabst mansion's ornamental buff-colored exterior terra cotta designed by george bowman ferry and executed by the northerwestern terra cotta company in 1892.  the pabst mansion is a flemish renaissance revival-styled house built by the architectural firm of ferry and class...

15 Mar

Posted at 17:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

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 MARCH, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

10 Mar

Posted at 02:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

 louis sullivan's schlesinger and meyer  building (1899) underwent major renovations during the depression, including, but not limited to, installation of escalators, enclosed art deco style elevators, foundation stabilization and staircase alterations/removal, original sullivan and/or george grant elmslie-designed elements (e.g., copper-plated open-elevator cages accentuated with cartouches,...

09 Mar

Posted at 02:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

the following posts (listed chronologically) offers a virtual guide through my thoroughly methodical and exhaustive efforts documenting chicago's historic extant congress theater (1926), from the moment i stepped foot into the theater's lobby, to the publication of the book "lost and found," which focuses on...

08 Mar

Posted at 20:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

while compiling a list of the most frequently found artifacts and/or bottles i have dug in the backyards of hundreds of chicago residences and commercial blocks, including the "e-z" stove polish bottle, i quickly made the connection between this seemingly inconspicuous bottle and the amazingly rich...

07 Mar

Posted at 16:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a richly ornamented single-sided treat and foltz-designed exteiror building cast iron column capital fragment is one of several new acquisitions made for the bldg. 51 museum over the past two months. the historically important and meticulously restored cast iron ornament is comprised of uniquely designed...

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