BLDG51. News and Events |

09 Jun a 19th century chicago alderman’s scrapbook discovered under the floorboards of a house slated for demolition

Posted at 09:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

when salvaging a house slated for demolition, i first and foremost size up both the interior and exterior elements that need to be removed, documenting the "before and after" as a critical facet of the narrative which i set out to capture on each site....

07 Jun documenting 19th century timbers and trash pits shortly after demolition of a chicago cottage

Posted at 22:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

sadly, i missed salvaging and/or documenting the death of this steeply-pitched gabled roof masonry chicago cottage constructed around 1890-1895. when i did make it to the site, all that remained were partially intact brick foundation walls, with the heavily notched interlocking pine wood sill plates...

06 Jun pre-fire crane brothers factory building riveted joint hand-forged iron vault door saved from demolition

Posted at 17:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

shortly before the last wave of demolition left the original 1865 foundry building standing alone, as the only reminder of crane's bustling fabrication of steam and valve fitters, urban remains was able to salvage and document the event. the crane manufacturing company lasted well into...

06 Jun capturing charleston’s rich and deeply layered architectural history through its structures

Posted at 16:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

i had plenty of time to research the history of charleston, south carolina, before flying there. a few weeks after booking the trip, however, i had chosen to avoid that approach altogether and just visit blindly, in hopes of getting lost in its rich and well-preserved...

03 Jun 1860’s two-story gabled front wood-framed chicago cottage constructed without the use of sheathing

Posted at 16:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

with so many demolished chicago wood-framed worker's cottages, there are a slew of recently documented buildings that await an assigned narrative around their histories, as well as documentation of the accompanying destruction and loss. the "old world" craftsmanship used to erect these simple, yet elegant cottages...

31 May former crane factory site unearthed – bottles, building materials, and basements found intact

Posted at 15:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

in the aftermath of a partial demolition of chicago's oldest factory building (the c. 1870 addition to the crane manufacturing company), several items have already been unearthed during excavation, with some pre-dating the factory itself. aside from ephemera related to the business (see prior post here), artifacts include a heavily...

31 May factory furniture, craftsman style art glass windows, dug chicago bottles, and a crane plant vault door

Posted at 13:33h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

30 May dnainfo chicago reports on discovery of an 1889 church building time capsule discovered by eric j. nordstrom

Posted at 22:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

Time Capsule From 1889 Discovered In Demolished Humboldt Park Church By Paul Biasco | May 18, 2016 5:51am | Updated on May 18, 2016 12:43pm @Paul_Biasco TwitterFacebookEmailMore Humboldt Park Time Capsule HUMBOLDT PARK — Eric Nordstrom has discovered two time capsules in the past two months, each dating back more than 100 years. Both...

30 May charles frost and alfred granger-designed buildings lost and found

Posted at 10:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

having recently witnessed the charles sumner frost-designed public life insurance building being unceremoniously toppled, with no effort toward its salvage, my mind wandered to other sites in the city, both remaining and lost, that were touched by the architects. frost had a fruitful partnership with alfred...

29 May frost-designed life insurance building’s massive carved limestone columns toppled down in a matter of hours

Posted at 23:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

on a calm afternoon, only myself and the wreckers were present as the humongous carved limestone columns proudly gracing the facade of the charles sumner frost-designed public life insurance building (1921) were quickly turned to a crumbling heap. the clunky, menacing clam bucket attached to the boom...

24 May cook county hospital building facade’s ornamental glazed terra cotta in greater detail

Posted at 10:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

following the recent announcement that the old cook county hospital will finally be rehabbed and put to new use, i took the time to visit the 100+ year old beaux arts-style main building, to photograph the facade and capture up-close detailing in the exquisite terra cotta...

24 May “sullivanesque” terra cotta spandrel panel from h.b. wheelock’s western methodist book concern building

Posted at 01:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the 11-story "moorish gothic" office building was completed in 1899 by architect harry bergen wheelock, originally serving as the offices of the western methodist book exchange, later as the stop and shop warehouse. this week's acquisitions include an additional "sullivanesque" spandrel panel (four sections creates a...

23 May bldg. 51 museums gains two matching rookery building william drummond elevator indicator light fixtures

Posted at 13:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

this week the bldg. 51 collection acquired a pair of historically important bronze and pressed two-piece frosted glass elevator indicator light fixtures dating to william drummond's renovation of the rookery building in the 1930's. the super super streamlined elevator fixtures feature centrally located rings flanked on...

21 May this year’s wrecking season is already beginning to take its toll on my mind and body

Posted at 14:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

it's friday afternoon and i find it hard to get anything done. there is so much to edit, research and write about. when i'm overwhelmed and anxious it's hard to gain traction and build momentum enough to feel in control again. as of this writing, i'm...

19 May the st. paul’s evangelical lutheran church building housed several occupants long after church moved out

Posted at 16:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

following the revelation of a time capsule, or foundation deposit, in the cornerstone of humboldt park's former st. paul's ev. lutheran church, it seems appropriate to elaborate the twentieth century history of the building. as dnainfo covered, the most recent iteration of the building was as a d.i.y....

17 May humboldt park church razed – 1889 time capsule recovered from its cornerstone

Posted at 23:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

just this past week another late nineteenth century church was wrecked in humboldt park. arriving to scope out the recipient of this new demolition sentence, the two-story masonry jehovah's witnesses church held immediate intrigue, a modest structure painted completely gray, but veiling certain architectural features that appeared...

17 May excavation of recently demolished crane brothers factory begins, pavers and paperwork unearthed

Posted at 23:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

while the mountainous piles of rubble were being carted off, the last remains of the recently demolished crane brothers mfg. factory building addition (the main building constructed in 1865 still stands), i discovered a small cavity against the foundation wall that yielded a wealth of artifacts. the 19th...

17 May heneghan wrecking rescues ornament from hospital building they are demolishing

Posted at 16:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

a month ago i posted about the uncertain fate of the ornamental terra cotta adorning the facade of presbyterian hospital's daniel a. jones building, completed in 1888. as the small collection of wrecking machines slowly erased the building's lengthy existence, i was growing concerned that...

14 May fragments salvaged from the extant mabbett & breed’s block (1858) located in milwaukee, wi.

Posted at 23:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

on occasion urban remains ventures to acquire architectural artifacts from outside chicago, and this week brought a fragment from a mid-nineteenth century building in milwaukee that is undergoing redevelopment. the artifact is an original section of allover crazed painted cast iron entryway load-baring column with...

13 May photographing 19th century new orleans was a deeply rewarding experience

Posted at 17:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

as in san francisco, i spent a great deal of my "vacation" wandering the streets of new orleans armed with a camera and multiple lenses. i deliberately avoided putting forth any objectives or parameters for myself in terms of producing architectural imagery that could be assigned greater...