Travel

photographic survey of the spanish baroque style glazed terra cotta pioneer arcade (jens j. jensen, 1925), located at 1535-1541 n. pulaski rd., chicago, il. terra cotta likely fabricated by midland or american terra cotta company, chicago, il. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2024.

2024 exterior detail of merchants national bank (1912) located in winona, mn. the early 20th century bank building was designed by purcell, feick, and elmslie. the polychromed ornament was modeled by kristian schneider for the american terra cotta company of chicago. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2024.

latest images (taken of exterior only in early april of 2024)  of louis sullivan's famers' and merchants' bank building (1919) located in columbus, wisc. the farmers and merchants union bank was the last small bank building or "jewel box" designed by architect louis h. sullivan. the terra cotta ornament (including the rearing lions) was molded by kristian schneider for the...

exterior photographic survey of the john richards octagon house (1854) and surrounding buildings. the three-story watertown, wisconsin residence was designed and built by its owner, john richards, a pioneer Watertown lawyer and mill owner. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2024.

lovejoy library in early spring of 2024. nothing has really changed much since the time richard nickel was alive and assiting them in the 1960s and 70s. perhaps of jack randall stuck around longer, more of nickel's collection would've seen the light of day. sadly, this will never happen.  richard nickel's copy of purchase order (dated jan, 3, 1966) issued...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

sullivan's newark revisited. images of home building association bank building. the "old home" was designed by louis sullivan in 1914. the ornamental terra cotta was modeled by kristian schneider and executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the richly colored tiled mosaic panel (one of two), caramel-colored slag glass transoms, and clear leaded glass casement windows were carried...

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 likely be dismantled in 2024 acoording to several sources, but will it be rebuilt and to what extent. the last time it was taken apart, crated and rebuilt, was in 1893, at the conclusion of...

note: the following links represent some of highlights accomplished in 2023. the posts are arranged chronologically, from beginning of 2023 to end.  BLDG. 51 ARCHIVE ACQUIRES SIZABLE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT RICHARD NICKEL PHOTOGRAPHS ROOKERY BUILDING BLUEPRINTS, RARE BOOKS, ORNAMENTAL TERRA COTTA, BUILDERS' HARDWARE, AND PLYMOUTH BUILDING ARTIFACTS ADDED IN JANUARY 2023 LARGELY INTACT PAINTED PINE WOOD EXTERIOR ORNAMENT SALVAGED...

the conroy building, located at 725-729 north milwaukee avenue, milwaukee, wisc, was built in 1881 by noted victorian architect edward t. mix & company. the distinctive 4-story queen anne style commercial building was occupied by james conroy's confectionery and catering business. the commercial building's facade is notable for its use of early terra cotta ornament. i have a suspicion that...

photographic study of claude bragdon-designed exterior polychromatic ornament on the three-and-a-half story bevier memorial building (1910), located at the corner of spring and s. washington streets, rochester, ny. bragdon designed the building in 1908 as a classroom and lecture space for the rochester athenaeum & mechanics institute (predecessor to the rochester institute of technology) arts program. the richly colored glazed...