while sorting through boxes of building materials i'm cataloging for my "deconstructing chicago project," i decided to set a group of bricks aside that connect with, based on the salvages and/or stories tied to them. eight stories involving the non-extant buildings from which the bricks...
the looming threat of the second german evangelical zion church's destruction, which had been in a holding pattern for months, was handed its death sentence when the demolition permit was released and the wrecker arrived with equipment to prepare it for destruction. thankfully, i managed...
an impressive 19th century chicago (wicker park neighborhood) three-flat apartment building with distinctive masonry punctuated with ornamental anderson pressed brick, fret-sawn wood window lunettes and amazingly intact surrounding ornamental cast and wrought iron newel, bracket and pipe railings flanking stoops and along sidewalk, will be...
the three-story hollenbach seed company building designed by the architectural firm of worthmann and steinbach and completed in 1912, was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours yesterday afternoon. sadly, the distinctive sprayed-glaze red terra cotta ornament, including the centrally located name plaque bearing...
the hollenbach building (1912) will be the latest casualty to succumb to the rapidly changing fulton market cityscape on the west side of chicago. the three-story brick and terra cotta commercial building was built for charles hollenbach’s seed company in 1912 at a cost of 12,000 dollars...
the following blog post links arranged in chronological order below offer highlights of the work of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains, and the bldg. 51 museum archive in 2019. over the past few years my work towards creating and/or collaborating with people and organizations deeply...
from three years ago: the south side masonic temple (1921) is presently under demolition. it has been less than six months since I documented the demolition of the logan square masonic temple, also by clarence hatzfeld, architect, and more can be read about his prolific career...
at the southeast corner of wells and division in chicago’s near north neighborhood, excavation and the choreography of new development have been happening for some time. just last march, ground was broken on the mega-project at atrium village, which will transform a mid-rise residential complex...
a little over a year ago a single house demolition dramatically altered the course of my life's work, in ways I could never have imagined. in ways i still struggle to make sense of. this house held an odd fixation for me and I would...
it's rather unfortunate that my recollections of exploring the partially operational (or perhaps largely crippled and chaotic) cook county hospital's power plant are so faint and fragmented. to make matter worse, hundreds of digital photographs taken of cook county hospital's interior during the short-lived salvage...
demolition in glencoe on the horizon. images from a visual record i made of the sprawling estate of h. earl hoover (nephew of william h. hoover), who purchased the land in 1922 and commissioned architect william furst of armstrong, furst and tilton to design the tudor...
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...
as i continue to stitch together bits and pieces of prior salvage experiences i often fall victim to a dense cloud of confusion and frustration when i pour over the notes and images taken during urban remains's infancy. looking back, i feel the process of documentation...
a recent excavation presented an unusually eerie opportunity -- to visit and later dig at the site of a former "glass bending factory" that was built there by notorious american serial killer h.h. holmes. i was aware of this history from having taken a "ghost tour" with chicago...
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)....
exhaustive photographic documentation and/or record of careful removal of the two remaining sullivan-designed cast iron storefront columns capitals from adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell loft building (more commonly referred to as the jewelers building) has drawn to a close. the fragments will be replicated to...
a chicago two-story 1880s masonry cottage or "boarding house" with completely intact fret-sawn pine wood bracketed cornice and diminutive lemont limestone window keystones accentuated with deeply incised simple scroll motifs will be destroyed in the next week or two. a demolition permit has been pulled and...
early 20th century movie-going was once a wildly popular excursion in which a nickel could purchase entrance to an elaborate architecture housing atmospheric settings, variety of entertainment and, importantly, an escape from the heat. a look to the ornament and interior décor of long-gone movie...
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...
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 AUGUST...