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2454 w. thomas street brick workers cottage demolished

i feel trapped in this inescapable and horrific cycle of documenting one residential demolition after another. i simply cannot keep up. i receive calls and email notifications daily that a wrecker is onsite and well into dismantling, or rather, erasing another piece of 19th century chicago. too often it is only to be replaced with some bland, nondescript three-flat built by a developer who's mindset is on the next project or "target": a small, "outdated" cottage that can be purchased on the cheap and pulled down quickly soon after. i'm fully aware that this is just an all too common part of the urban "life cycle," but it leaves me with great sadness that more cannot be done to preserve these little pieces of the city's past. having said that, i simply try to do my part by documenting the death of the house or building, retrieving materials that can live on somewhere else, and repeat the process again...and again.

since "unearthing chicago"  is near completion, i have gone into a "tunnel vision" state with the next publication, "deconstructing chicago." i recently gave a lecture to students in the historic preservation program at the chicago art institute, and while this gave me an adrenaline boost, it also contributed to a self-imposed pressure over the last week that has been an unhealthy constant. my stress is compounded by the urgency of the demolitions under way, since the majority of wreckers have been leading me to sites containing structural components or framing that they have never seen before, saying i should come look quickly before it becomes a pile of splinters. when i arrive, i quickly see what stands out, which as of late, involves multiple summer beams, unusually sized timbers or beams and wood pegs. based on the existing field work as it pertains to the "chicago method" of balloon framing, this is very new and exciting data. thus, i feel strongly that i have a responsibility to document this, both via photography and collecting "samples". i realize most architectural historians will never have the unusually intimate access i have, that enables one to dissect a structure once it is fully exposed.

 

all of this may sound like a broken record. documenting the importance of discovery and collection of data has been posted time and again. if it weren't for my background in research science, i likely would not be so meticulous in documenting each and every structure and its materials (i.e., sill plate joinery, nail head profiles, saw markings on the dimensional lumber, and so on). still, the patterns that are being discovered strengthen my case that the existing theories surrounding the structural characteristics of the balloon frame need to be revamped. quite frankly, i feel field work is the key, and each and every house is like a mobile laboratory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

updated on 11-21-2015: i finally got the time to photograph one of two summer beams with a portion of the sill that we carefully extracted on the site. the original tapered and faceted wood peg is still in place. no other evidence of reinforcement (e.g., square nails, etc.) was found after lightly cleaning and thoroughly investigating the location where the heavy beams are interlocked with typical mortise and tenon joints. i'm still amazed at this unusual beam configuration.



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