12 Jan

Posted at 07:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

original museum-quality 20th century american hexagonal-backed side chair salvaged from the imperial hotel (tokyo, japan), prior to demolition in the late 1960's. the iconic "peacock" side chair was designed by architect frank lloyd wright, with an original drawing for an "overstuffed chair" dating back to...

12 Jan

Posted at 04:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

earlier this afternoon i received a small package containing a historically important relic or "souvenir": a pile of melted or fused threaded screws found in the "burnt district" shortly after the great chicago fire was extinguished in 1871. the screws were likely housed in a box found in...

05 Jan

Posted at 16:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Travel by

the following blog post links arranged in chronological order below offer highlights of the work of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains, and the bldg. 51 museum archive in 2019. over the past few years my work towards creating and/or collaborating with people and organizations deeply...

29 Dec

Posted at 18:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

over the course of 2020, the bldg. 51 museum managed to secure several historically important architectural fragments and objects, in addition to the evolving archive, consisting of period photographs, books, documents, drawings, blueprints, models, and other related materials, that will prove invaluable to bolster the...

29 Dec

Posted at 18:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

at the southeast corner of wells and division in chicago’s near north neighborhood, excavation and the choreography of new development have been happening for some time. just last march, ground was broken on the mega-project at atrium village, which will transform a mid-rise residential complex...

14 Dec

Posted at 19:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

archival prints for sale: eric j. nordstrom has recently launched a website category (a dedicated website and gallery to his photography and collection through the bldg. 51 museum will launch in mid-2021) focusing on the art prints for sale in addition to rights-managed architectural stock photography...

14 Dec

Posted at 05:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i spent several hours looking at and digitizing images from richard nickel's chicago stock excange contact sheets the other day. like the garrick, nickel methodically documented each and every detail, including the building's hardware. adler and sullivan's chicago stock exchange (1894) was outfitted with sullivan-designed cast...

06 Dec

Posted at 20:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

rare early 20th century comprehensive and profusely illustrated pittsburgh plate glass company's "glass paints, varnishes, and brushes: their history manufacture and use" hardbound book and/or catalog featuring an informative glance at the early beginnings of glassworks, paint development and distribution and the formation and establishment...

02 Dec

Posted at 15:12h 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 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of DECEMBER...

25 Nov

Posted at 03:34h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

urban remains recently acquired one of the largest known collections of original 19th century american victorian-era salvaged chicago majolica figural tiles and fireplace surrounds executed in a multitude of rich color schemes and elaborate designs. examples from this remarkable collection are shown below. update as of...

24 Nov

Posted at 19:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired late 19th century original and completely intact brand brewery administration building terra cotta roofline ornament executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the remarkable and historically important ornamental square-shaped block was salvaged from the brewery complex during...

04 Nov

Posted at 03:26h in Bldg. 51, 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 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of NOVEMBER...

29 Sep

Posted at 20:06h 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 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of SEPTEMBER...

25 Sep

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

several historically important george grant elmslie (1877-1926) designed terra cotta fragments salvaged from the thomas a. edison school (1936-37) hammond, indiana) during its demolition in 1991, have been added to the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum and archive collection.  elmslie's last commissions built during his life were...

15 Sep

Posted at 00:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

while researching holabird's and roche's architectural commissions (i.e., commercial buildings within chicago's loop)  from the late 19th century, i had a difficult time tracking images of the cable building (1899) . i knew richard nickel was brought onboard through som and/or the historic american building...

09 Sep

Posted at 08:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum archive as of august, 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, with detailed captions, will highlight some...

31 Aug

Posted at 18:33h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

original exterior terra cotta fragment salvaged by richard nickel in 1967 when he documenting the demolition of adler & sullivan's meyer building or commercial lofts (1892). the 7-story structure was commissioned by the estate of m.a. meyer, a former partner in selz, schwab, & company. ...

26 Aug

Posted at 05:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the...

19 Aug

Posted at 05:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

rediscovering a 1920's softbound catalog and/or booklet while rearranging my library the other day proved to be both rewarding and informative. after pouring over the images and descriptions time and again, i finally pinpointed the fabricator of the plaster ornament used to "dress" the palace theater's...

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