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Antique American Architectural Artifacts

  1. richard nickel's "polish palazzo" and nearby angles he admired from window and doorstep

    richard nickel's "polish palazzo" and nearby angles he admired from window and doorstep
    richard nickel's "polish palazzo" located at 1810 cortland street. the images were taken from the time he purchased it in 1969 until his death in 1972. sadly, the facade and a few feet of the original two-story building remain standing. most of it was demolished with the space later integrated into a neighboring home. he admired the neighboring towering stamped...
  2. louis h. sullivan-designed 1892 ellis wainwright bedford limestone tomb in bellefontaine cemetery, st. louis, mo.

    louis h. sullivan-designed 1892 ellis wainwright bedford limestone tomb in bellefontaine cemetery, st. louis, mo.
    2024 photographic survey of adler & sullivan’s wainwright tomb, located in bellefontaine cemetery st. louis. the bedford limestone and bronze etom was originally constructed for charlotte dickson wainwright, the wife of ellis wainwright, who’s building was designed by the same firm a year before the tomb was completed in 1892. shortly after construction of the adler & sullivan’s wainwright building...
  3. revisiting harvey ellis's richardsonian romanesque style deteriorating compton hill standpipe water tower in 2024

    revisiting harvey ellis's richardsonian romanesque style deteriorating compton hill standpipe water tower in 2024
    2024 photographic survey of the romanesque style compton hill standpipe water tower designed by architect harvey ellis in 1898. the compton hill water tower is the earliest of three extant stand pipe-water towers located in st. louis. the 179-foot water tower was built to conceal a 6-foot diameter 130-foot tall iron standpipe. the structure is comprised of brick, limestone, terra...
  4. a forgotten trailbazer built during the depression: a closer look at holabird and root's streamlined style art deco 1931 a. o. smith research tower

    a forgotten trailbazer built during the depression: a closer look at holabird and root's streamlined style art deco 1931 a. o. smith research tower
    holabird and root's 7-story a.o. smith research and engineering building with distincitve zig-zag-shaped glass and aluminum curtain wall was completed in 1930. located at 3533 n. 27th street in milwaukee, wisconsin, the innovative u-shaped building has a cage-like steel frame with welded steel-plate floors and hollow structural columns and girders enclosing piping and ductwork. the research and design building was...
  5. previously unknown historically important chicago-based beardslee lighting company collection joins the bldg. 51 archive

    previously unknown historically important chicago-based beardslee lighting company collection joins the bldg. 51 archive
    late last week the bldg. 51 archive secured what likely is the largest collection of 2d ephemera pertaining to the chicago-based beardslee chandelier manufacturing company, established in 1901 by frank s. beardslee. we begun digitizing some of the collection while attempting to make sense of it all. the number of archival boxes is seemingly endless and each filled with drawings...
  6. central's restoration work on adler and sullivan's pilgrim baptist church (formerly kehilath anshe ma'ariv synagogue) well underway

    central's restoration work on adler and sullivan's pilgrim baptist church (formerly kehilath anshe ma'ariv synagogue) well underway
    the following images were taken in the winter of 2023-24 while carefully documenting central building and preservation's efforts to stabalize, restore and/or rebuild the oversized segmented bedford limestone window arches along the north wall of adler and sullivan's kehilath anshe ma'ariv synagogue or pilgrim baptist church (1890) that was gutted by a horriffic fire in 2006, leaving it - literally...
  7. rust in peace: rookery building's adams street entrance cast iron staircase designed by john wellborn root future unknown

    rust in peace: rookery building's adams street entrance cast iron staircase designed by john wellborn root future unknown
    images of john wellborn root-designed combination bower-barff and copper-plated cast iron staircase removed from the adams street entrance of burnham and root's rookery building (1888) in the 1990s (if i recall correctly). the staircase components were executed by the hecla iron works of new york (william winslow of the winslow brothers) worked there shortly before establishing his own foundry in...
  8. deconstruction of otto strack's 1893 buff-colored terra cotta frederick pabst columbian exposition pavilion underway

    deconstruction of otto strack's 1893 buff-colored terra cotta frederick pabst columbian exposition pavilion underway
    the exterior buff-colored ornamental terra cotta 1893 world's fair pabst beer pavilion (designed by architect otto strack, who also designed the extant pabst theater) will be shrouded in a steel web in preparation for deconstruction. will it be rebuilt using a hybrid of original and reproduced terra cotta ornament (the latter likely supplied by boston valley terra cotta company, buffalo...
  9. louis h. sullivan's purdue state bank and its richly colored iridescent green glaze terra cotta

    louis h. sullivan's purdue state bank and its richly colored iridescent green glaze terra cotta
    iridescent green glaze. february, 2024. the following images were taken earlier this week of of louis h. sullivan's purdue national bank building (1914). the richly colored polychromed terra was modeled by kristian schneider and executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. with exception to the entrance (plugged with an atm machine), modification of the chimney, replacement of the...
  10. bldg. 51 museum acquires exceptionally rare 1930 american stoveboard catalog with louis h. sullivan-designed board

    bldg. 51 museum acquires exceptionally rare 1930 american stoveboard catalog with louis h. sullivan-designed board
    original 1930 american stoveboard company catalog (i've been searching for one for at least 10 years). so now i know without doubt that by 1930, they carried only one louis h. sullivan-designed board in their product catalog. it's a rather unusual one and the size displayed, does not surface often. sullivan likely secured the two hundred dollar commission through his...
  11. the athens on the prairie: photographing columbus, indiana

    the athens on the prairie: photographing columbus, indiana
    images taken during a 2-3 hour window while traveling through columbus, indiana, the "athens on the prairie," on valentine's day, 2024. the architecture is very much out of my wheelhouse, but wanted to challenge myself.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2024.
  12. revisting 19th and early 20th century racine, wisconsin architecture in 2024

    revisting 19th and early 20th century racine, wisconsin architecture in 2024
    architectural images taken during a brief visit to racine, wisc. during the middle of winter, 2024. buildings documented - mostly in detail - include barry byrne's st. patrick's church and st. catherine's high school (the terra cotta ornament was likely sculpted by edgar j. miller), holabird and root's city hall building, and the egyptian revival style masonic temple, with the...
  13. part one: documenting richard haas's 1980 "homage to the chicago school" mural executed by jeff greene and evergreen outdoor advertising

    part one: documenting richard haas's 1980 "homage to the chicago school" mural executed by jeff greene and evergreen outdoor advertising
    detailed images of american muralist richard haas's "homage to the chicago school," located at 1211 north lasalle, chicago, ills. the mural draws from the chicago board of trade, chicago tribune competition, sullivan banks, adler and sullivan's transportation building, chicago stock exchange, etc. four portraits are located on the south wall, beginning with frank lloyd wright, john wellborn root, daniel h...
  14. exterior and interior photographic survey of pond and pond's purdue memorial union (1924)

    exterior and interior photographic survey of pond and pond's purdue memorial union (1924)
    a partial selection of eric j. nordstrom photographic images of pond and pond's purdue memorial union (1924), located at 101 north grant street, west lafayette, ind. the irving k. pond ornament - both interior and exterior - is both unusual and distinctive, especially if one carefully examines the dynamic and fluid interplay between the forces of nature and geometry within...
  15. latest photographic images from 2024 chicago architectural ornament survey

    latest photographic images from 2024 chicago architectural ornament survey
    late 2023-early 2024 photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all...
  16. digitization of newly acquired massive kodachrome collection - spanning decades - devoted to chicago architecture in progress

    digitization of newly acquired massive kodachrome collection - spanning decades - devoted to chicago architecture in progress
    digitization of a massive mixed bag of chicago architecture images spanning four decades in currently underway. the other night i finally made time to begin scanning what i call the "shoebox collection," which is comprised of thousands of koda and ektachrome slides of chicago dating from the 1960s-1990s. the slides, boxes, etc., are marked "city" in pencil. i have no...
  17. bruce price's eternal monument or "doric tomb" to skyscraper builder george a. fuller

    bruce price's eternal monument or "doric tomb" to skyscraper builder george a. fuller
      George A. Fuller (October 21, 1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system. Early life and career: Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, near Worcester. After graduating from Andover College, he took a course in architecture at the Boston School of Technology and then started in...
  18. photographic images from architectural ornament survey across american cities in winter of 2023-2024

    photographic images from architectural ornament survey across american cities in winter of 2023-2024
    latest 2023-2024 photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's architectural ornament survey (aos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings in cities located across the country. over 376,000 images have been digitized and made available for viewing on the website blog...
  19. bell building and other historically important chicago building brochures join bldg. 51 archive

    bell building and other historically important chicago building brochures join bldg. 51 archive
    original 1924 saddle-stitched bell building booklet distributed to prospective building tenants. the profusely illustrated tri-fold booklet contains detailed images and information on the building. the 23-story classical style cream-colored terra cotta office building was designed by the architectural firm of vitzthum, karl, and company in 1924. it was commissioned by businessman herbert bell as the headquarters for the bell and...
  20. pretty in pink: 1892 schiller building or garrick theater auditorium plaster "starpod" with early 1950s painted finish added to bldg. 51 museum

    pretty in pink: 1892 schiller building or garrick theater auditorium plaster "starpod" with early 1950s painted finish added to bldg. 51 museum
    the louis h. sullivan and frank l. wright-designed ornamental plaster within the auditorium of adler and sullivan's garrick theater (1892) was painted hideous colors around the time it was converted into a television studio in 1951. one such example - a star-pod panel - from the proscenium vault was recently acquired by the bldg. 51 museum collection this week.  filllllllllllllllll...

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