[caption id="attachment_34392" align="alignleft" width="900"] ogen avenue facade with terra cotta name plaque in place.[/caption] by Eric J. Nordstrom and Ornament Chicago: As another exhausting week continues additional details of the family behind the curious wedge-shaped J. L. Higgie building continue to emerge. After some more research...
after a much-needed break from the bowels of congress theater, i spent the remainder of my time there traversing the auditorium's upper balcony plenum chambers hoping to discover more objects discarded by moviegoers beginning around the time the theater opened in 1926. thankfully, i was...
an extensive photographic record of congress theater's basement level mechanical equipment was completed late last week. the utilization of multiple camera lenses was required to accurately capture both surface details and systems found throughout the subterranean space, located directly beneath the lobby floor. additionally, images...
a largely intact circular pine wood privy pit or "vault" floor was discovered during excavation of a site where a pre-fire chicago residence succumbed to the wrecking ball. i was busy documenting the sill plate configuration of a nearby wood frame house when i got wind...
[caption id="attachment_34252" align="alignleft" width="620"] a late 19th or early 20th century chicago tugboat.[/caption] facing its impending destruction, the wedge-shaped j.l. higgie building has piqued my interests; perhaps moreso because of the lack of information out there surrounding the building itself, and the plethora of accolades following...
it never ceases to surprise that the smallest artifacts can hold the most expansive histories. this week a simple object --a brass key ring from the reliance building-- unveiled an iconic narrative from an era when chicago served as territory to some of the most notorious gangsters. even...
i had a single day to salvage what i could from a pre-fire chicago italianate style residence retaining many of the interior elements dating from the time of construction. when i arrived onsite, the excavator had already flattened the garage. soon thereafter, the unmistakable sound of...
when i find time, i'm carefully extracting fragments from the piles of "insulation" discovered behind the walls of a pre-chicago fire worker's cottage i salvaged a few days ago. my research strongly indicates that the house was constructed around 1867, possibly earlier. the materials at the very...
although it may be redundant to preface a post pertaining to 19th century chicago cottages with my continued disappointment and despair, i will probably continue to express my lament, as long as there is still a constant stream of exceptional buildings being permanently erased from the urban...
urban remains received a call last week over the removal of long-forgotten artifacts and building elements buried in the recesses of logan square’s armitage baptist church building as they begin clearing out remnants of its original occupant - the logan square masonic lodge. we spent...
urban remains recently secured several pallets worth of american vintage industrial furniture (dating to the 1940's-1950's), removed from the zim manufacturing company factory building. founded in 1919, the zim manufacturing company specialized in the manufacture of automobile specialty tools and gauges, housewares, and other hand tools....
i didn't have much time to shoot congress theater's interior after spending the afternoon out on the facade. before leaving for the day, i decided to lug my camera equipment up to the attic where i could capture additional images of the methods and materials...
the oscar heinemann silk factory began its construction in 1918. a four building complex, underground tunnels were built to allow workers to travel from building to building. this specific sprawling addition, at the time, was commissioned for $100,000 - four stories, 125 x 125 ft,...
the primary reason for ending nearly every post with "to be continued" or "i will revisit at a later time" is lack of time. i feel weighted down by the stress of chasing deadlines everyday. i've reached a state of mind where i calculate my actions...
[caption id="attachment_32559" align="alignleft" width="4130"] stripped down to an early pine wood clapboard - likely added during the late 19th century - the modest two-story wood frame cottage awaits its demise. the chicago workers cottage was moved around some, with the last being at the rear...
1035 north marshfield (the street was known as rumsey at the time of construction), a two-story victorian era brick boarding house with decorative lemont limestone trim above the windows and entrance, was demolished in a matter of hours late last week. the following images and...
i began documenting john eberson's atmospheric avalon theater (1927) early last week, and many additional visits lie on the horizon. aside from embarking on the creation of a visual record of the theater's interior and exterior ornament, i managed to spend time in the attic....
in a previous post, i devoted a considerable amount of time to sharing both images and informational notes regarding the careful and systematic extraction of a post-fire chicago italianate row house interior staircase, comprised largely of walnut wood. the inspiration to focus solely on the...
i moved quickly to document any and all ornament adorning the lobby and auditorium of the 1927 olympic hotel, formerly known as the sokol slavsky building. Most of it had remained original and largely unaltered since time of construction, and i was preparing to commit...
for several decades, a maze of cramped and cluttered rooms and hallways hidden within a west side post-fire chicago (1872) italianate rowhouse have remained largely unaltered. despite being dissected into multiple "apartments" during the 1930's, defining architectural elements such as the marble mantels, solid walnut...