the following blog posts provide a detailed photographic survey of louis sullivan's interior and exterior architectural ornament adorning his midwest banks built between 1908-1919. A PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF LOUIS H. SULLIVAN'S 1914 MERCHANTS' NATIONAL BANK ORNAMENT DOCUMENTING LOUIS SULLIVAN-DESIGNED INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR PEOPLES SAVINGS BANK ORNAMENT LOUIS H....
over the past two decades, i've taken tens of thousands of images of milwaukee's architecture, and the vast collection of images continues to grow each time i visit, espeically when newly discovered residential and commercial buildings are added to my "circuit." like the work i...
the following gallery of photographic images represents only a fraction of images taken during a brief visit to minneapolis in july of 2019. the majority of the work focuses on late 19th and early 20th century exterior commercial building architectural ornament, with an emphasis on...
i spent two days in minneapolis documenting building ornament designed by the architectural firm of of kees and colborn. the first building i shot was the minneapolis grain excahnge (1900-02). the cream-colored "sullivanesque" ornament is quite unique - unlike the majority of drab stock patterns...
i've traveled repeatedly to the city of aurora to thoroughly document george grant elmslie's five commercial buildings with an emphasis placed on the exterior terra cotta ornament he designed for each commission. aurora is home to the largest number of commercial buildings designed by elmslie. the...
the following gallery represents only a fraction of photographic images taken of louis h. sullivan's 1914 merchants' national bank during my trip to iowa, as i forge ahead documenting the ornament of his "jewel boxes" designed and built in small towns across the midwest between...
images from my photographic study of louis h. sullivan's peoples savings bank completed in 1911. located in cedar rapids fall, ia., peoples savings was the second of sullivan's "jewel boxes" built in small towns across the midwest. the bank was the last commission george grant...
over the past decade, i've taken tens of thousands of images of milwaukee architecture, and it continues to grow each and every time i visit, espeically when newly discovered residential and commercial buildings are added to my "circuit." like the work i do in chicago, a book on milwaukee's architecture...
april 7th, 2019: a small selection of images from my photographic documentation of late 19th and early 20th century buildings (emphasis on architectural ornament as always) in and around salt lake city taken over the weekend. when time permits, will need to retrace my...
the following images were taken during a brief visit to la crosse, wisconsin, a small historic city founded in 1848 on the mississippi river, where several surviving 19th century workers cottages, italianate commercial buildings, and chicago prairie school structures contribute to cityscape rich in heritage,...
i've waited a very long time - too long - to document adler & sullivan's wainwright building. studying the wainwright through through the eyes of hugh morrison, aaron siskind, richard nickel, and john szarkowski bolstered my interest and desire to see it for myself. with...
one of two figural red slip-glazed terra cotta panels adorning fourth street school (1890). the richardonsian romanesque style school, now known as golda meir school, was built by architect -henry c. koch (perhaps best known for milwaukee's city hall building, completed in 1895). ...
harvard's memorial hall is an excellent example of 1870s high victorian gothic style, characterized by towers and turrets, corbelled and patterned brickwork, gargoyles, patterned shingles, mansard roofs, polychrome color schemes, and carved or pressed brick ornament. the building - considered to be one of the most...
trinity evangelical lutheran church sits near the corner of west highland avenue and north 9th street. originally established by german immigrants in 1847, the building, as it stood until may 2018, was designed by architect frederick velguth in german romanesque or gothic revival style. what remains of the...
a trip to milwaukee last weekend led to a much-needed, albeit abbreviated photographic survey of architectural building ornament (primarily terra cotta) adorning three historically significant 19th century buildings i've repeatedly visited for the last 20 years while traveling on my carefully curated "circuit" of structures within the confines of...
during my very brief visit to boston in late november, i took thousands of images of focusing on h.h. richardson's architecture, late 19th century ornament (e.g., carved brick) adorning houses located in the backbay neighborhood, mit chapel, a small selection of building on harvard's campus...
unfortunately, i haven't had much time to visit neighboring wisconsin this year to photograph architecture in cities and town across the state. i did have a chance to revisit louis h. sullivan's farmers and merchants union bank in columbus (1919) while in madison shooting the...
i've researched ornamental carved brick for sometime now, but lacked any extensive and/or detailed visual documentation of it in situ. fortunately, i ran across a wide array of examples on houses (built between the late 1870's and mid-1880's) located in and around boston's back bay. ...
i spent two afternoons photographing terra cotta and sandstone ornament adorning the facades of 19th century rowhouses located in boston's back bay neighborhood. the following gallery represents a tiny fraction of my efforts towards beginning what i hope will be an exhaustive photographic study of exterior architecture ornament found...
documenting louis sullivan's national famers' bank of owatonna (1908) was exhausting. pouring over and carefully selecting hundreds of images cataloging sullivan, millet, and elmslie's ornament has left me with extreme eye fatigue. the ornament's energy was intense, but at the same time, calming. hard to explain,...