BLDG51. News and Events |

16 Sep thieves were hung and brained: an unusually and graphic account of the great chicago fire of 1871

Posted at 14:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired two unusual chicago fire books (published, 1872) featuring a collection of gruesome accounts collected by writer and publisher george l. barclay. graphic lithographs including children being burned alive, criminals hung and "brained," and buildings being purposely detonated (often still...

14 Sep senseless destruction of the neoclassical style lakeview state bank building (1921)

Posted at 02:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

photographic survey of lakeview state bank building's demise. the restrained neoclassical style bank building was built around 1921. the exact architect is not known. none of the existing ornament was saved, including vast mounts of dressed limestone furnished by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind. ...

08 Sep a selection of images and ephemera culled from the bldg. 51 vast architectural archive

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

the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural materials added to the bldg. 51 archive in 2019. a more focused and in-depth blog post, will touch upon some of the more notable and historically important architectural artifacts acquired for the...

07 Sep photographic survey of 19th and 20th century architecture in kalamazoo, michighan

Posted at 15:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

one of several posts documenting 19th and early 20th century architecture located in kalamazoo, mich. additional images and supplemental information will be provided when time permits. ...

07 Sep adler and sullivan’s schiller building facade loggia partially rebuilt at second city in 1961

Posted at 13:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

bernie sahlins (one of the founders of second city) secured terra cotta ornament from adler and sullivan's schiller/garrick building (1892) during its demolition in 1961. the ornament - salvaged from the second floor balcony - was incorporated into the facade of their...

03 Sep beginning, end and rebirth of adler & sullivan’s chicago stock exchange building trading room

Posted at 03:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

[caption id="attachment_34568" align="alignleft" width="1200"] new york-based harper's weekly covers opening of chicago stock exchange building designed by adler and sullivan in 1894.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_34569" align="alignleft" width="970"] chicago stock exchange building (1894) as it appeared in the 1920's.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_34141" align="alignleft" width="1200"] the trading room as it appeared...

01 Sep simultaneous destruction of a chicago workers cottage, sullivanesque building, and neoclassical bank building

Posted at 14:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the three structures have been completely destroyed since the time i documented them last week. chicago workers cottage: sullivanesque commercial building: neoclassical limestone corner bank: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...

01 Sep examples of terra cotta ornament executed by the winkle terra cotta company from the bldg. 51 archive

Posted at 14:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the st. louis-based winkle terra cotta co., with offices in the century bldg. at 9th and olive sts., and works at 5739 manchester ave., was established as the joseph winkle terra cotta works in 1883, located in cheltenham, a suburb of st. louis. in 1889...

01 Sep strange ornament (not sullivan): a photographic study of adler and sullivan’s desenberg building (1885)

Posted at 02:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

photographic study of adler and sullivan’s dessenberg & company building (1885) located in kalamazoo, mich. the three-story commercial brick building with basement, was erected for grocer bernhard dessenberg by bush and patterson (76 north burdick street), a local construction firm. the exterior features unglazed reddish-orange terra...

28 Aug a selection of architectural artifacts and objects discovered and documented from disfigured and/or demolished buildings

Posted at 09:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

a virtual gallery consisting of hundreds of architectural artifacts (several being historically important) and miscellaneous objects discovered and documented by eric j. nordstrom during the past 15 years salvaging residential and commercial structures faced with demolition or senseless disfigurement. when time permits, i will be assigning...

25 Aug continued neglect takes its toll on j.l. silsbee’s shuttered bandstand in garfield park

Posted at 13:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

photographic study meticulously documenting the sad state of j.l. silsbee's largely forgotten bandstand (1897) located in garfield park. the images provide visually compelling evidence of its decay and defacement through deferred maintenance. [caption id="attachment_70709" align="alignleft" width="1841"] image courtesy of chris ware.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_70708" align="alignleft" width="2048"] images courtesy...

24 Aug burnham and root brain dump: a repository of architectural images, artifacts and ephemera

Posted at 03:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by Eric

the bldg. 51 archive has amassed several images, artifacts and ephemera pertaining to the architectural firm of burnham and root over the past several years, with the intention of creating a "virtual collection" to be easily accessed by any and all who have an interest...

23 Aug william gray purcell-designed grave markers in forest home cemetery

Posted at 21:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

finally made my way over to forest home cemetery to see the grave markers designed by william g. purcell for himself and wife cecily. when purcell passed in 1965, richard nickel set the stones to align perfectly at the time they met in 1935. it was...

22 Aug extensive repository of 19th century chicago workers cottage building materials housed in bldg. 51 museum archive

Posted at 04:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

images of the 19th century balloon frame "specimen" library for use with "deconstructing chicago" book. a massive repository of cataloged sill plates, tree nails, tie rod anchors, brick, lath, joists, hardware, square nails, studs from demolished cottages is safely housed in the bldg. 51 museum...

18 Aug hiding in plain sight: surviving remnants of 1893 world’s columbian exposition in jackson park

Posted at 14:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

the following images carefully document (in great detail) surviving remnants from chicago's 1893 columbian exposition, held in jackson park on the south side of chicago (hyde park). i've included two original charles atwood-designed (d.h. burnham & company) exterior arc lamp posts (used on the fairgrounds,...

18 Aug bldg. 51 museum archive houses one of the largest repositories of historically important “sullivanesque” terra cotta

Posted at 14:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the bldg. 51 museum's extensive collection of late 19th and early 20th century "sullivanesque" style commercial building terra cotta is presented below in an exhaustive, ever-growing photographic survey conducted by eric j. nordstrom. the terra cotta ornament was designed by disciples of louis h. sullivan's,...

17 Aug albert sullivan house: an early case of recycling architectural ornament

Posted at 06:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

a case of recycling architectural ornament in the late 19th century. if you look closely at the ornament on adler and sullivan's 1893 chicago world's fair transportation building at least four sections of ornament reappeared in both plaster and bedford limestone (i.e., the exterior lunette) in...

15 Aug from ornament to ordinance: winslow brothers foundry and world war one

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

the winslow brothers were chicago’s leading architectural manufacturers, producing wrought and cast iron, and complex decorative metalwork for buildings across the region. while their work in this capacity is well-known, the company's survival and transformation into the 20th century is less often examined. the winslow...

09 Aug latest chicago architectural ornament survey (CAOS) images

Posted at 15:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

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...

08 Aug john vinci kodachromes documenting the eradication of 19th and 20th century buildings on block 37

Posted at 19:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

john vinci kodachrome slides of the post-fire mccarthy building designed by architect john m. van osdel in 1872. the 5-story building was demolished in 1989 to make way for block 37. ornament from the facade, including ohio sandstone keystones and column capitals, were salvaged during...