Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

The sheer variety of rare and unusual pieces here is mind-blowing. Between the huge warehouse in Chicago’s West Town and the online catalog, this architectural antique store is like a museum where everything is for sale. Eric Nordstrom Eric Nordstrom, founder of Urban Remains, on a salvage at the 70-story YWCA hotel at 830 S. Michigan Avenue. He's touching a...

it didn't take long for a few freeze/thaw cycles to wreak havoc on the bonding agents used to secure the ornamental plaster against the ceiling of a former showroom built for the buick sales building in 1921. the automobile showroom was designed by notable chicago architect clarence hatzfeld, and built by charles lange, costing approximately 250,000 dollars.  without the use of...

long after the collection of historically-important buildings belonging to rush's hospital campus were reduced to rubble, we received a call from a woman assigned the task of selling and/or discarding the piles of building remnants that had been dropped at a desolate storage yard shortly after each building succumbed to the wrecking ball. like the hospital buildings, this architectural "graveyard...

with so many architectural artifacts, medical and industrial objects, signage and everything else in between, it's becoming increasingly difficult to continue listing new items on a daily basis. in 2017 however, we have brought onboard additional staff to ensure  at least ten new items are added to their respective categories each and everyday. below is just a random sampling of...

an incredible discovery, documented shortly after demolition work was finished for the day. the oculus was found intact behind the bricked-in wall. the unusual number of muntins (and "hub") suggests an automobile wheel, which was a popular motif was used in other buildings along logan square's "motor row." the complete arch top surround with centrally located spoked portal or oculus...

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...

some of the first hidden and/or forgotten remnants recovered in the first part of 2017, came from the ground, discovered in one of the many forgotten city dumps that dot the cityscape. the dump contained piles upon piles of leather shoe soles, caked with a wretched black ooze. each time the excavator dug into the sludge, the shoes and other debris...

a blog entry posted two weeks ago provided extensive documentation pertaining to the careful extraction of the former milwaukee avenue motor sales building's (more commonly known as the "mega mall") roofline ornamental terra cotta urns. beginning last last week, demolition was underway - to my great surprise and disappointment. by the time we arrived on the jobsite, a good portion...

widow and socialite ann halsted commissioned adler & sullivan to build her understated gold coast mansion at 440 w. beldan ave. in 1884.  sullivan’s trademark ornaments are diminished to an elaborate cornice and bay windows. in halsted’s own words, she wanted the house to have “quality, not particularly frills.”  the house represents sullivan’s foray into the queen anne style and...

being semi-retired has been incredibly rewarding, and has allowed me ample time to pursue my obsessions, and immerse myself in various chicago histories. looking back at this past year inspired me share a few of these "themes" i dedicated great time and energy to. some will certainly carry over into the new year, but most of these projects have been...

this december the bldg. 51 museum collection received a welcome, but unexpected boost in inventory of historically important chicago building terra cotta. the majority of the exterior ornament salvaged over the years hailed from buildings no longer with us. one particular piece carries great significance for its connection to a non-extant building designed by illinois' first registered african american architect, walter t...

senseless.

i was pleasantly surprised and utterly delighted when a good friend of mine gave me an original two-tone mosaic tile floor segment from one of two schiller building (garrick theater) staircase landings, discovered by nickel et al. in may of 1960 - shortly before the building was set to be demolished. the artifact will in turn will be added to the...

as i'm sure many do, i am constantly using the "lens" of my mind, conveniently tucked away in my cortex, to record what captivates me. unfortunately, lugging around a bag of camera bodies and lenses is the only vehicle to sharing this information. this entails a perpetual rhythm of distraction, switching lenses and attending to equipment while on the move...

we have spent most of the week now carefully extracting ornamental terra cotta from the facade of the "mega mall," which was built between 1921-1923 as an automobile showroom or dealership for chevrolet. the unusually colored exterior ornament with mottled finish was fabricated by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. despite the building being heavily modified, the neoclassical style...

BY SEAN LEWIS AND STACY FRIEDMAN CHICAGO -- Eric Nordstrom didn’t plan to spend his life poking around crumbling churches, homes and hospitals on a quest to document history. He studied molecular genetics at the University of Minnesota and was a staff scientist at the University of Chicago. But he would spend weekends wandering through abandoned buildings just to see...

another physically and emotionally draining  year has drawn to a close, but the ungodly amount of projects have left a heap of photographic images, documents, and artifact extractions waiting to be transformed into blog posts, exhibits, lectures, and narratives, that will carry into 2017 and perhaps beyond. being stuck now in the depths of this torturous "slow season," i'm forced to...

http://wgntv.com/2016/12/20/how-one-man-races-to-keep-the-past-of-chicago-present/

the bldg. 51 american architectural artifact museum recently acquired several r.r. donnelley printing plant (extant) ornamental terra cotta exterior shields featuring richly colored polychromatic finishes. fabricated by the midland terra cotta (chicago, ills.), the shields adorned the exterior facade of the massive printing facility, considered the largest of its kind upon completion in 1929. 24-karat gold applied to the glaze shortly...

in a previous post, the bldg. 51 museum acquired a unique and highly figurative terra cotta rondel that was positioned between the spandrels on the exterior of the sullivan-inspired late 19th century st. boniface school building (demolished in the 1990's). late last week several pallets of additional st. boniface ornamental terra cotta was purchased, which includes, but not limited to, dentiled...