BLDG51. News and Events |

25 Nov hundreds of additional 19th century victorian majolica tiles purchased from lifetime collector now available on online

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

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 exceptional northwestern terra cotta roofline ornament from louis lehle-designed brand brewery acquired over weekend

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

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...

10 Nov large cache of amazingly intact creosoted cedar wood-block street pavers unearthed in fulton market

Posted at 21:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Products, Salvages by Eric

when companies are contracted by the developers to extricate structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks and alleys in and around sites to be excavated for future construction, work continues with subsequent digging to remove concrete and asphalt, which in many cases, leads to the discovery of well-preserved...

04 Nov newest architectural artifacts, furniture and objects for the month of november

Posted at 03:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

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...

06 Oct severed stone head salvaged from the “madhouse on madison”

Posted at 02:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

months after the newly-built united center indoor sports arena (home to both the chicago bulls and the blackhawks) opened in august of 1995, demolition of chicago stadium began in march of 1995 (its site is now a parking lot for the united center across the street)....

29 Sep recent architectural ornament, industrial furniture, objects and ephemera added for the month of september

Posted at 20:06h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

25 Sep george grant elmslie-designed thomas edison school terra cotta joins bldg. 51 museum

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

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...

09 Sep latest historically important bldg. 51 museum and archive building ornament and ephemera added in 2020

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

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 bldg. 51 museum acquires historically important meyer loft building (1892) terra cotta ornament salvaged by richard nickel

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

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 portals to the past: a collection of posts on unearthing 19th and early 20th century chicago privy pits

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

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 architectural decorating company outfitted many of chicago’s majestic theaters with plaster ornament

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

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...

12 Aug latest acquisitions for the month of august

Posted at 03:40h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

30 Jul images from the bldg. 51 “unearthing chicago” project archive

Posted at 23:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

the following gallery of images (59 in total) were culled from the "unearthing chicago" project archive (2014-1017). with over 15,000 images documenting objects found in chicago's subterranean portals to the past, along with meticulously cataloging and photographing these unearthed objects in studio after project completion,...

21 Jul urban remains acquires lifetime collection of rare 19th century american majolica glazed fireplace figural tiles

Posted at 20:21h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

14 Jul latest american architectural artifacts, industrial furniture and objects for the month of july

Posted at 02:40h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

14 Jul rare early p.b. wight fireproofing company terra cotta tiles added to bldg. 51 historic building material archive

Posted at 01:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

peter b. wight (1838–1925) was an american 19th-century architect who practiced in new york city and chicago. wight's work in 1860s and 1870s new york evolved from a decorative, historicist style that paralleled the work of european designers john ruskin and augustus welby northmore pugin. after...

10 Jul earliest known adler & sullivan light fixture rescued from morris selz residence before its demolition

Posted at 02:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

in a previous post, i provided an in depth background on the early edison bergmann socket discovered in the non-extant 1893 columbus building in 1959. here i will revisit that for a moment before introducing a recently acquired socket and fixture salvaged from the adler...

09 Jun latest salvaged chicago architectural artifacts, museum-quality ornament, industrial furniture and objects for the month of june

Posted at 18:13h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

09 Jun 19th century architectural drawings of burnham and root’s rookery’s skylight acquired by bld. 51 museum archive

Posted at 12:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

offering a rare glimpse at the evolution of a historically significant architectural masterpiece, bldg. 51 has recently obtained a set of linen work drafts for the historic chicago rookery building. designed for burnham and root under the project name “order no. 918”, the fourteen iron...

27 May latest images and ephemera added to bldg. 51’s vast architectural archive

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

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...