11 Jun

Posted at 16:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by

the urban remains showroom and bldg. 51 museum (housed and periodically on display in river north, west town, and fulton market) will continue calling 1820 west grand avenue home for the forseeable future. the number of acquisitions in 2024 has grown considerably in 2024 -...

30 May

Posted at 13:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

two original red slip glazed terra cotta grotesque face exterior corbels salvaged from charles sumner frost's chicago and north western railway train station or lake dront depot (1889-1890). the romanesque style station - located in milwaukee, wisc. - closed in 1966 and demolished...

19 May

Posted at 16:02h 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 artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 125,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 20 years). the newly acquired items for the early months of 2024 have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...

23 Feb

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

original 1930 american stoveboard company catalog (i've been searching for one for at least 10 years). so now i know without doubt that by 1930, they carried only one louis h. sullivan-designed board in their product catalog. it's a rather unusual one and the size displayed,...

04 Feb

Posted at 17:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

digitization of a massive mixed bag of chicago architecture images spanning four decades in currently underway. the other night i finally made time to begin scanning what i call the "shoebox collection," which is comprised of thousands of koda and ektachrome slides of chicago dating from...

26 Jan

Posted at 15:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

original 1924 saddle-stitched bell building booklet distributed to prospective building tenants. the profusely illustrated tri-fold booklet contains detailed images and information on the building. the 23-story classical style cream-colored terra cotta office building was designed by the architectural firm of vitzthum, karl, and company in...

25 Jan

Posted at 16:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the louis h. sullivan and frank l. wright-designed ornamental plaster within the auditorium of adler and sullivan's garrick theater (1892) was painted hideous colors around the time it was converted into a television studio in 1951. one such example - a star-pod panel - from...

20 Jan

Posted at 15:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

stanley tigerman studied at massachusetts institute of technology, but flunked out after one year. after, the dean of architecture at mit helped tigerman get an apprenticeship with chicago architect george fred keck. after a year with keck, he left to start his own practice, which...

19 Jan

Posted at 17:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a sizable collection of custom-designed commerical door hardware was recently purchased by both the bldg. 51 museum and urbna remains earlier this month. the emblematic and monogrammed cast brass, bronze, and bower-barff iron doorknobs and backplates are from numerous historically important american buildings (many demolished)...

18 Jan

Posted at 16:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

john h. edelmann (1852–1900) was a socialist-anarchist who worked as an architect in the office of alfred zucker, a successful commercial architect of the 1880s and 1890s in new york city. as an architect, edelmann's sole surviving monument is the former headquarters of the decker...

11 Jan

Posted at 15:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press by

with a surprisingly large number of frequent acquisitions populating both museum and gallery these last three months, i have been deeply entrenched in documenting and displaying chicago-centric ephemera, photographs, and architectural artifacts in a satisfactory manner before another acquisition – big or small – arrives...

11 Jan

Posted at 15:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 95,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 18 years). the newly acquired items for the winter months of 2023-20 have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

08 Jan

Posted at 15:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

contact sheet images of frank lloyd wright’s francisco terrace (1895) taken shortly after it was rebuilt in oak park in 1978. realtor john baird, attorney, historian devereux bowly, and architect ben weese were instrumental in salvaging frank lloyd wright-designed ornament (e.g., bedford limestone columns, lintels and...

31 Dec

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

note: the following links represent some of highlights accomplished in 2023. the posts are arranged chronologically, from beginning of 2023 to end.  BLDG. 51 ARCHIVE ACQUIRES SIZABLE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT RICHARD NICKEL PHOTOGRAPHS ROOKERY BUILDING BLUEPRINTS, RARE BOOKS, ORNAMENTAL TERRA COTTA, BUILDERS' HARDWARE, AND PLYMOUTH BUILDING...

29 Nov

Posted at 14:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 archive acquired some glass negatives taken by or for the chicago tunnel and/or illinois tunnel company (the latter took over construction and operations beginning in 1905). the work was subcontracted out to the illinois telephone construction...

24 Nov

Posted at 18:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

  four original red slip-glazed gothic style exterior terra cotta fence segments salvaged from northwestern terra cotta executive henry rokham's house (1887) in the 1980s, joined the bldg. 51 museum collection of historically important terra cotta earlier this month. rokham's victorian-era home was designed by architect...

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