30 Jul

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

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,...

14 Jul

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

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...

16 Jun

Posted at 04:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

one of the most visually striking and architecturally distinctive features within notable architect henry i. cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893) is the highly detailed, tracery-laden "drooping tip" cast plaster ceiling, comprised of interlocking gridded panels reinforced with metal mesh cones and illuminated with single...

20 Apr

Posted at 03:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

while en route to a demolition in the wicker park neighborhood of chicago, i came across an unusual renovation or demolition, some kind of chaotic project that left the structural components of a 19th century two-story framed cottage fully exposed for both the eye and...

14 Apr

Posted at 08:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

after carefully studying and documenting adler and sullivan’s s.a. maxwell loft building (1881) over the past several weeks construction workers peeled back layer after layer of alterations revealing how much of its original historic fabric was stripped off dating back to the time its original...

20 Mar

Posted at 21:55h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel by

a selection of stories from 2019: over a decade devoted to documenting and salvaging chicago's architectural past a look back at images of tribune tower's continued transformation in 2019 documenting louis sullivan-designed carved berlin sandstone panels on facade of 1881 s.a. maxwell loft building bldg. 51 and ryerson archive...

17 Mar

Posted at 05:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i’m finally consolidating images and ephemera gathered after devoting nearly two years documenting extant chicago depression-era theaters. the discovery of material left behind by the tradesmen who built the theaters, along with piles of “trash” found within the auditorium plenum chambers, was by far the...

16 Mar

Posted at 21:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

outside of urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem, i've been relentlessly pursing several obsessional exploits for years now. from deconstructing chicago cottages to documenting objects tradesmen left behind in the domes of chicago movie palaces, i've come to realize i'm long overdue to gather...

13 Mar

Posted at 22:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Travel by

the following links provide access to hundreds of images taken of 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant residential and commercial structures in and around downtown milwaukee, taken over the past several years. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive.  WEEKEND...

10 Mar

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

one day i received a call from the general manager at hotel burnham (named after notable chicago architect daniel burnham), which is downtown chicago hotel that currently occupies the reliance building, completed march, 1895. prior to being converted into a boutique hotel, the building sat...

09 Mar

Posted at 03:38h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

late last week urban remains purchased a massive collection of 19th century american victorian era majolica glazed residential fireplace tile sets salvaged over the past few decades from chicago two and three-flat greystones undergoing demolition. the majority of the richly ornamented and deeply embossed fireplace...

31 Dec

Posted at 10:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

the following collection on posts revolve around architectural salvage operations (big and small) across the city of chicago over the past decade. in time, i hope to revisit dormant images and information waiting to be transformed into posts to shed light on buildings demolished long...

13 Oct

Posted at 22:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

four chicago buildings from the 19th and early 20th century will be wiped off the map in the coming weeks. the four links to past posts provide additional information and images. ANOTHER EARLY 20TH CENTURY SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO VON HOLST-DESIGNED SUBSTATION FACED WITH DEMOLITION HERMAN V. VON...

08 Oct

Posted at 21:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i took a few hundred images of howells and hood's tribune tower building (1925) when i was given access to the interior (including ground floor lobby, office tower, and printing plant) to inspect the original dull green enameled commercial grade steel muntin plate glass windows...

10 Sep

Posted at 21:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

my latest photographic documentation of alder and sullivan's 1881 s.a. maxwell timber loft building offer a detailed survey of ongoing modifications to the upper floors. alterations and/or additions include the installation of wood stud wall framing on floors 3-5, sections of floor cut out in...

06 Sep

Posted at 16:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

richard nickel's extensive visual record of building demolitions and/or salvages in and around chicago during the height of urban renewal is truly remarkable. every time i take on another "project" within his archive, i'm taken aback by his dedication to thoroughly document a building before, during,...

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