images from an exhaustive photographic study (conducted in may of 2021) of merchants national bank building (1912) located in winona, mn. the early 20th century structure is widely considered the largest and most impressive bank buildings designed by purcell, feick, and elmslie. the exterior...
exterior restoration of adler and sullivan's 5-story s.a. maxwell loft building (later known as the jewelers' building) is nearing completion with the installation of recreated sullivan-designed cast stone panels on the building's storefront level load-bearing berlin sandstone piers, which were badly damaged around the turn...
profusely illustrated "the story of terra cotta" hardbound book published in 1920 by walter geer. only a hundred copies were printed, with very few known to exist. the heavily resourceful 300-plus page book provides in-depth information about the american terra cotta industry and its fabricators. ...
the non-extant frank house was commissioned by successful chicago businessman louis frank with dankmar adler & louis sullivan as architects. in 1884 the house was constructed at 3155 s. michigan avenue. the slim, three story structure was well adapted to maximize residential space while remaining...
photographic study of northwestern terra cotta executive henry rohkam's residence all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. northwestern terra cotta...
contemporary exterior and interior photographic images of louis h. sullivan's national farmer's bank (1908) located in owatonna, mn. any and all images were taken in the spring of 2021. courtsy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. exterior: ...
ill-prepared immediately comes to mind as i comb through the hundreds of images i took after spending nearly two hours in a small, 19th century chicago cottage that had not been lived in since 1939. sure, the house was looked after, but the homeowner(s) were more...
the charnley persky house museum is both a historic house museum and headquarters to the society of architectural historians. the charnely is both a pivotal piece of modern architecture and evidence of the creative collaboration between louis sullivan and frank lloyd wright. sullivan rejected the...
my initial motive for traveling to new york was to visit the woolworth building to carefully evaluate whether ornamental elevator ironwork, extracted from the upper floors of the building during its conversion to condominiums, would be a worthwhile acquisition for both urban remains and the bldg. 51 museum....
located at 630 south wabash ave. in chicago's south loop, the wirt dexter building was a landmark, commissioned by its namesake wirt dexter, a chicago attorney and real estate developer. designed by adler & sullivan and built in 1887 for a total cost of $100,000,...
the exchange state bank (1910) was the first of three mower county (southern minnesota) bank buildings designed by the architectural firm of purcell, feick & elmslie (later purcell and elmslie). located on the corner of main street and grand avenue in the small town of...
a unique and distinctive collection of historically important metal castings, foundry patterns and plaques were recently acquired by chicago's wagner foundry and its subsidiary, the bronze memorial plaque company. the assemblage is comprised of both interior and exterior metal (e.g., bronze, brass, aluminum, etc.) recast ornament...
the following images - digitized, enlarged, and edited from richard nickel contact sheets housed in the richard nickel committee archive at the ryerson and burnham library, art institute of chicago, were taken by richard nickel of the charles p. kimball house during its demolition in...
the building 51 collection is fortunate to include a few incredibly rare fragments from the non-extant frank lloyd wright-designed midway gardens. among the artifacts is a remarkable c. 1914 panel, comprised of cast concrete and originally part of a larger decorative frieze. a very limited number...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial 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 MAY,...
from the time of its settlement chicago had begun a lumber trade, with a sawmill on the north branch of the river that served the local construction trade, and soon after began sending timber by ox-drawn wagon to settlements along hubbard's trail. sure enough, this...
latest images documenting the reconstruction of the four sullivan-designed exterior load-bearing steel columns adorning the s.a. maxwell building's (adler and sullivan, 1881) storefront. with most of the interior alterations and/or restoration completed, focus has shifted again to the building's façade, where recreation of the ornamental...
carefully studying richard nickel images (digitized from numerous contact sheets last week) of adler and sullivan's dooly block (1890-92) not only offered additional insight and appreciation for the firm's only commission built in the western states, but intensified my admiration for nickel's efforts to thoroughly...
most recent photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the photo-documentation project focuses on methodically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods, where the historic fabric is...
the following images were carefully selected from the voluminous archive of prominent chicago photographer and teacher, harold allen (1922-1999) housed at the ryerson and burnham archive, art institute of chicago. his photographs of adler and sullivan buildings taken in the 1940's are especially important, perhaps highlighted by his...