27 May

Posted at 03:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the virtual gallery presented below, offers a detailed account of the latest historically important architectural materials added to the bldg. 51 archive in spring of 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, will touch upon some of the more notable and historically important documents and/or...

26 May

Posted at 18:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

a selection of exterior detail photographic images of sullivan-designed ornament for adler and sullivan's guaranty building (1896) taken during a trip to buffalo in 2017. the ornamental ironwork was executed by the winslow brothers, chicago, ills. the exterior terra cotta was fabricated by northwestern terra cotta...

17 May

Posted at 02:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Products by

[caption id="attachment_24765" align="alignleft" width="2060"] one of many cold-rolled sheet iron original ceiling-mount carbon arc spotlights used to illuminate events held at chicago stadium. the turned wood knob and glass fresnel lens are original.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_24771" align="alignleft" width="1200"] vibrantly colored used matchbook cover with encircled "c" logo...

12 May

Posted at 20:29h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

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 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of april...

11 May

Posted at 20:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

photographic study of louis h. sullivan-designed polychromed terra cotta ornament adorning the van allen building or department store located in clinton, ia. the four-story commercial building was commissioned by john van allen and constructed between 1912-14 as louis h. sullivan as architect. to achieve a rhythmic...

04 May

Posted at 20:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey (as of april, 2020) is provided below. the architectural ornament is sourced from extant late 19th and early 20th century buildings within chicago's city limits. the majority of the buildings enjoy landmark status, while others are relatively...

20 Apr

Posted at 03:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

while en route to a demolition in the wicker park neighborhood of chicago, i came across an unusual renovation or demolition, some kind of chaotic project that left the structural components of a 19th century two-story framed cottage fully exposed for both the eye and...

18 Apr

Posted at 20:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the 10-story wainwright building is an early skyscraper designed by the architectural firm of dankmar adler and louis sullivan in 1891. The steel-framed commercial building was named for local brewer, building contractor, and financier ellis wainwright. the wainwright building was the second major commission for...

16 Apr

Posted at 03:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

the first state bank of manilus, ills., was one of parker berry's earliest commissions after spending 8 years as louis h. sullivan's chief draftsman. the two-story red brick sullivanesque style bank building was designed in 1915 with john wesley berry as building contractor. despite being...

14 Apr

Posted at 20:16h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

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 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of april...

14 Apr

Posted at 08:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

after carefully studying and documenting adler and sullivan’s s.a. maxwell loft building (1881) over the past several weeks construction workers peeled back layer after layer of alterations revealing how much of its original historic fabric was stripped off dating back to the time its original...

13 Apr

Posted at 21:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

i finally had the opportunity to visit and meticulously document louis sullivan's purdue state bank (completed in 1914)  over the weekend. the images (see below) are all exterior with an emphasis placed on the richly colored glazed terra cotta and tapestry brick. located in west lafayette,...

11 Apr

Posted at 04:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the bld. 51 museum houses one of the most comprehensive and diverse collection of late 19th and early 20th century terra cotta ornament from historically important chicago buildings. the following images represent a fraction of ornament on display and/or in storage that has been meticulously...

06 Apr

Posted at 18:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

contact print one: ornament salvaged from the albert sullivan residence (1891): [caption id="attachment_36304" align="alignleft" width="781"] contact sheet number one. the artifacts were salvaged from adler & sullivan's albert sullivan residence (1892).[/caption] [caption id="attachment_36302" align="alignleft" width="1200"] the cast plaster escutcheon was salvaged by john vinci and/or robert furhoff...

24 Mar

Posted at 19:17h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

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 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

20 Mar

Posted at 21:55h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel by

a selection of stories from 2019: over a decade devoted to documenting and salvaging chicago's architectural past a look back at images of tribune tower's continued transformation in 2019 documenting louis sullivan-designed carved berlin sandstone panels on facade of 1881 s.a. maxwell loft building bldg. 51 and ryerson archive...

17 Mar

Posted at 05:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i’m finally consolidating images and ephemera gathered after devoting nearly two years documenting extant chicago depression-era theaters. the discovery of material left behind by the tradesmen who built the theaters, along with piles of “trash” found within the auditorium plenum chambers, was by far the...

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