latest digitized kodachrome slides from the john vinci archive

1961 richard nickel kodachrome slide of john vinci working on stencil recovery from adler & sullivan's garrick theater. under crombie taylor's direction, wall sections from garrick theater - then under demolition - were cut out and brought back to taylor's home where john vinci, david norris and others spent weeks scraping away layers of paint... what they found is truly remarkable. the recreation of full-scale polychrome stencils - from both the auditorium (1889) and garrick (1891) - were placed in various exhibits including the "systems of stencil ornament of louis sullivan" in 1967. additional images (the recreated stencil john worked on and the 1967 exhibit) were pulled from the ryerson and burnham online archive. richard nickel kodachrome slide courtesy of tim samuelson. i will post additional images from this project when i have time to digitize remaining slides.

undated kodachrome slide of boston's city hall and surrounding plaza (1968). kalmann mckinnell & knowles, campbell, aldrich & nulty, architects. courtesy of the john vinci archive.

1962 john vinci kodachrome slide of the william w. kimball residence (extant) located at 1801 s. prairie avenue. the house was built in 1890-92. solon spencer beman, architect.

late 1980s kodachrome slide of helmut jahn's thompson center. photogrpah by john vinci. note "the garrick" restaurant and parking garage to the right with curtain wall containing cement recasts of the four-piece terra cotta geometric panels once adorning the top floor arcade of adler and sullivan's garrick theater (demolished in 1960 for the parking garage). an original assembly, executed by northwestern, was sandblasted and plugged into one of the six screens.when the parking garage was demolished in the 1990s, the original panel was extracted and given to chicago historical society. i've always wondered where the giant stainless steel plaque with drawing of the theater's front elevation by adler and sullivan went after the garage was demolished. richard nickel photographed it shortly after it was installed when the garage was completed.

undated john vinci kodachromes of the old second national bank of aurora (1924). the prairie school bank building was designed by architect george grant elmslie.

undated john vinci kodachromes of the old second national bank of aurora (1924). the prairie school bank building was designed by architect george grant elmslie.

edison shop, demolished. george grant elmslie, architect.

h. h. richardson's trinity church (1872-77) as it appeared in august of 1966 - a year before the controversial john hancock tower project (designed by henry n. cobb of the firm i. m. pei & partners was announced in 1967). kodachrome slides courtesy of john vinci archive.

h. h. richardson's trinity church (1872-77) as it appeared in august of 1966 - a year before the controversial john hancock tower project (designed by henry n. cobb of the firm i. m. pei & partners was announced in 1967). kodachrome slides courtesy of john vinci archive.

john vinci ektachrome slide of the marin county civic center (1960) as it looked in 1964. frank lloyd wright, architect.

undated john vinci kodachrome slide of yale's art and architecture building (1963). paul rudolph, architect. the design of this brutalist icon was influenced in part by frank lloyd wright's larkin building (1903).

1962 john vinci kodachrome slide of the otho s.a. sprague house (2700 s. prairie ave.). the house was built by burling and whitehouse in 1888. demolished. thanks to william tyre for house identification.

holabird and roche's cable building (1898-1899) as it appeared in 1958-60? kodachrome slide processed in april, 1962. image taken by john vinci. so pleased to see the cable in color! additional images are on the way... demolished 1960.

holabird and roche's cable building (1898-1899) as it appeared in 1958-60? kodachrome slide processed in april, 1962. image taken by john vinci. so pleased to see the cable in color! additional images are on the way... demolished 1960.

chicago union station (1925). undated kodachrome slide by john vinci. the firm of graham, anderson, probst and white completed the work to d. h. burnham's designs.

kodachrome slide of chicago civic center under construction. the 31-story building (completed in 1965) was designed by jacques brownson of the firm c. f. murphy associates. photo by john vinci.

undated kodachrome slide of schmidt, garden, and martin's dwight building (1911). the hugh garden-designed exterior terra cotta lion heads - with a distinctive black speckled glaze - are similar in design and finish to the ones he used on the chapin and gore building (1904) and michael reese hospital (1907). photographed by john vinci at a time when the building was wonderfully dark and gritty. note the "artificial limbs" shop next door... i cannot help but think of david lynch.