i'm continuously arranging and rearranging any and all artifacts housed within the bldg. 51 museum, as a means to generate inspiration and flush out narratives held within these historically important remnants of the past. at the most basic level there is information attached to every object...
the links (arranged in chronological order offer), highlights of the work of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains, and the bldg. 51 museum archive in 2021. over the past few years my work towards creating and/or collaborating with people and organizations deeply entrenched in architectural preservation...
when looking for a document in daniel brenner’s archive the other day, i stumbled across a folder containing remarkable images (nickel?) from the "louis sullivan and the architecture of free enterprise" exhibit held at the art institute in 1956. if i recall correctly, frank Lloyd wright,...
late 19th and early 20th century historically important chicago building architectural ornament housed in the bldg. 51 musuem collection. ...
latest images from my ever-growing photographic survey of extant late 19th and early 20th century chicago residential and commercial structures located across chicago. notable examples of south side chicago architecure recorded in this survey include frank lloyd wright's heller, blossom, and robie houses, burnham and...
the neoclassical style hotel lexington building was designed by chicago architect clinton j. warren in 1891-92. in a four-year span (from 1889 to 1893), warren designed the congress hotel, the leander mccormick apartments, the metropole hotel, the plaza hotel, and the lexington. with the exception...
the following image gallery offers some of latest american architectural builders' hardware aquired over the past month. the salvaged chicago residential and commerical hardware dates to the late 19th and early 20th century. ...
around the time i began salvaging a chicago italianate row house constructed shortly after the fire, i was deeply immersed in the book, “the carpenter and joiner, and elements of hand-railing,” written by robert riddell in 1869. the highly technical book discusses the “art” of...
latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...
visually compelling kodachrome slides of chicago's historic prairie avenue district as it appeared in february of 1968 and may of 1975. the earlier images were possibly taken by richard nickel. the following list of houses are featured in the slides. the keith and wheeler houses...
i am thrilled to have finally located and authenticated two heavily carved oak wood staircase railings salvaged from the potter palmer mansion or "castle," designed and built by architects henry ives cobb and charles sumner frost between 1883-1885. the railings were acquired by the bldg....
the cornelius c. hopper house (1863) was demolished in a matter of hours late last week. sadly, very little, if anyhting, was salvaged from the exterior and/or interior of the three-story italiante style masonry residence punctuated with unornamented lemont limeston window hoods. the original solid...
john vinci's letter to the editor as it appeared in crain's, december 12th, 2021: The case for a museum of architecture in Chicago The demolition of another pre-fire residence reinforces architect John Vinci's belief that Chicago is in desperate need of a museum of architecture. Getty Crain's recent article...
garden city architectural works, furst and bradley, proprietors. 4-story commercial building with original bracketed cornice built around 1858 with addition (to the north) constructed in 1861. architect unknown. henry horner grocery store and wholesale, henry horner, proprietor. the 4-story commercial building with...
a seldom seen collection of original 19th century albumen prints of historically important mansions designed by notable chicago architects. the majority of the images feature houses (many demolished during land clearance) on the near south side, including prairie avenue. original james w. taylor albumen print of...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of DECEMBER, 2021, have been...
historically important art deco style architectural artifacts salvaged from notable chicago buildings erected during the 1920s-1930s. the original ornament - all identified, meticulously documented and photographed is housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection. when time permits, i will provide additional information, identifying the building ornament...
the laverty-martindale house (1859) house was built for thomas laverty, an english sailor who came to wisconsin in the late 1850s. laverty fought in the civil war, and returned disabled from his service and was unable to complete construction of the house. in 1868, stephen martindale...
virtual repository of images representing my ongoing project photodocumenting architectural ornament designed by louis h. sullivan on and and all extant building built by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan and/or louis h. sullivan on his own. the majority of the images revolve around...
as covered in a previous blog, the bldg. 51 museum recently collaborated with the decorators supply company to make a limited edition of ornament originally from adler & sullivan’s c. 1889 auditorium theater. in fact the fabricator of these domes is historically important in their...