selection of images from 2019 survey of 19th and 20th century chicago architectural building ornament

the following gallery below represents a small fraction of images culled from the ongoing 19th and early 20th century photographic survey of architectural ornament adorning extant commercial and residential buildings across the city of chicago. any and all images have been meticulously cataloged and printed (in full color) where they are securely housed in bld. 51 archive's physical facility which also includes architectural fragments, ornament, images and other ephemera on chicago's architectural history. the virtual database of images is readily available for easy access to architects and scholars expressing interest in the history of chicago's architectural ornament, including period designs and materials. at the close of 2019, the architectural ornament survey or archive contains tens of thousands of images taken over a five year period. 

images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive.