12 Dec

Posted at 23:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

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...

12 Dec

Posted at 00:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

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...

09 Dec

Posted at 12:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

05 Dec

Posted at 22:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

[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...

14 Nov

Posted at 15:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

06 Nov

Posted at 13:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

26 Oct

Posted at 14:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

21 Oct

Posted at 16:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

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...

19 Oct

Posted at 04:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

11 Oct

Posted at 14:25h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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....

11 Oct

Posted at 04:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

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...

14 Sep

Posted at 12:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

30 Aug

Posted at 04:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

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...

02 Aug

Posted at 04:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

  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....

25 Jul

Posted at 22:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

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...

29 Jun

Posted at 10:39h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

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...

29 Jun

Posted at 10:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i was already mentally and physically exhausted prior to beginning the lengthy salvage conducted at the post-fire italianate style charles c. p. holden block (1872). a developer had acquired the property with the intention of stripping it down to "four brick walls" to convert into...

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