22 Sep

Posted at 21:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

two 19th century houses were handed the death sentence earlier this week. the late 1890' two-flat with rusticated stone arches on george street (see below) has already been pulled apart and trucked off. the second house (1880-1884), replete with pressed ornamental brick, rusticated stone, and exceptional...

21 Sep

Posted at 19:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

  after the evergreen street post-fire cottage (1874) was brought down and the dust settled, i jumped up on the heavily notched old growth white pine wood sill plates, resting atop the few brick walls that remained standing. with camera in tow, i aimed to closely examine the materials...

21 Sep

Posted at 01:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

as the facade of st. john's church came crumbling down (a terrible loss for chicago's preservation movement) several pieces of limestone ornament, the dated cornerstone, and the copper time capsule found within it, were carefully removed. they are currently being documented in my studio, where...

20 Sep

Posted at 05:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

when in new york i always visit sullivan's bayard-condict building (1897-1899) not only to reacquaint  myself with an "old friend" of sorts, but to closely study and photo-document the exceptional white glazed terra cotta facade through time, executed by the perth amboy terra cotta company, perth amboy, nj....

19 Sep

Posted at 19:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

several original single-sided documented brushed and refurbished cast iron staircase panels recently entered the bldg. 51 collection: the exquisite cast iron ornament exhibit symmetrical and restrained floral motif inside overlapping geometric shapes that once adorned the stairs of a historic uptown building whose alteration is intertwined with...

14 Sep

Posted at 22:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the decorators'' supply company traces its history back to 1883 when the original founders, simon strahn and richard c. foster, established a partnership to manufacture "artistic decorative accessories." an old lease document dated april 13, 1890 describes the company as a carving and guilders business. by...

12 Sep

Posted at 04:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum has secured several historically important chicago building artifacts over the past month that are just now being carefully documented and photographed for exhibition in the ever-growing collection. earlier this week it began with an all original heavily ornamented figural cast iron...

11 Sep

Posted at 03:52h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts salvaged and/or acquired and posted in the urban remains massive website catalog (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one...

10 Sep

Posted at 19:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

there's good reason why i cannot leave a wrecking site until everything has been trucked off, including the earth excavated for laying the foundation of the structure replacing the one reduced to rubble. every now and then, while a building is being blasted by the excavator's bucket, something...

07 Sep

Posted at 05:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

i never made it to work on friday. instead, i drove over to evergreen street after seeing demolition permits reissued, and hearing from an associate that the bright yellow wrecking machine is parked in front of the four endangered structures there. catching wind of this...

06 Sep

Posted at 02:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a little over a month ago urban remains covered the initial stages of the death sentence handed to noble square’s early 20th century historically important st. boniface church. as wrecking begins on the dilapidated structure, despite community protest to adaptively reuse the building, urban remains...

01 Sep

Posted at 20:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i'm so thankful to have made the time to quickly document this remarkable pot-fire italianate style residence before it was brought down earlier this week. thanks to quality wrecking i managed to document both the interior and exterior shortly before and during the house's untimely...

29 Aug

Posted at 15:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

since 1910, st. john's oversized cast bronze church bell was used to call the congregation to service, announce weddings, and of course, toll at funerals. late last week that oversized bell, fabricated by the henery stuckstede foundry, st. louis, mo., was carefully extracted from the exposed...

27 Aug

Posted at 14:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

recently acquired for the bldg. 51 collection/museum are a pair of remarkable 1920's exterior light fixtures, discovered in a remodeled stairway leading down to lower wacker west of michigan avenue. the exterior sconces were originally installed at the lincoln park zoo.   though the large globes are...

24 Aug

Posted at 02:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

among the non-chicago based artifacts in the bldg. 51 museum collection is a highly unusual depression-era theater seat end, included in the catalog for its reflection of exotic movie palace architecture in the mid-west, and as an object designed for chicago architects anker graven and...

22 Aug

Posted at 15:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

outside of architectural ornament, signage is an important element of the built landscape for its ability to retrace a specific area's changing landscape. as a salvaged object, it is always implicated in whatever historical narrative might arise. this is embodied in a very rare original...

20 Aug

Posted at 10:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

  last weekend i made my way over to rush hospital to document what remained of the historically important buildings containing ornamental terra cotta, limestone, and other materials on their facades. once onsite it was clear the presbyterian hospital's daniel a. jones building (1888) was long...

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