chronicling chicago's extant 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament top priority for 2017

detail of northwestern terra cotta company exterior ornament adorning the facade of a 19th century chicago workers cottage.

meticulously documenting the surface detail and design of chicago's older extant architecture will remain a top priority in 2017. with so many projects, exhibitions, and lectures already dotting the days of my calendar, i'm already finding a great deal of joy, fulfillment, relaxation, and a great way to disconnect and just let my mind's eye wander freely across chicago's cityscape.

bedford, indiana hand-carved limestone exterior chicago graystone "grotesque" waterspout

over the past few years i've taken hundreds of thousands of images, organized in thousands of folders designed to provide the accessibility/flexibility to quickly assemble visual presentations for blog entries, publication/printing, and so on. with so many overlooked 19th century cottages and commercial buildings hiding in plain sight, along with those being reduced to rubble or substantially altered across chicago each and every year, i find it extremely important to build a cohesive visual record of historic structures in their entirety and/or architectural detail. thus, it won't be terribly surprising to see this type of work presented in upcoming posts found on the opposite side of the spectrum where deconstruction and the death of buildings is what i'm perhaps most "known for."

a small collection of edited images taken during the first week of 2017: 

riveted joint railroad bridge hand-painted sign with age appropriate wear

another fine example of 19th century northwestern terra cotta exterior red slip glaze ornament.

remarkably intact chicago post-fire wood-framed cottage with pronounced window hoods or headers and dentiled cornice.

well-maintained "artificial stone" arch-shaped door surround and keystone, along with original "tear drop" arched entrance doors, accentuated with rope molding and flanking pilasters.

original post-fire chicago italianate rowhouse zinc or tin roofline bracketed cornice.

magnificent jeweled transom art glass window with hand-painted opposed rondels depicting birds facing each other.

fine example of a post-fire artificial stone window surround and centrally located keystone (both pictures from same chicago flat.

congress theater or movie palace (1926) "attic" space with auditorium domes on the right.