urban remains owner eric j. nordstrom featured in subaru drive magazine

Preserving Chicago’s Architectural History

Four days a week, Eric Nordstrom, 43, visits buildings in the Chicago area that are about to be razed. From homes, theaters, offices and factories, he excavates what he thinks is valuable – vintage lighting, antique folk art, film reels, theater seating – and lugs all of it back to his own office and showroom, located appropriately in a former macaroni factory. A small white sign advertises his business: Urban Remains.

On this weekday, he’s perched on a vintage industrial steel stool, on sale for $191.75, unaware that he’s posed exactly like Rodin’s The Thinker. Industrial furniture is hot right now; replicas of stools such as this go for at least $300 at Restoration Hardware. Nordstrom also has steel filing cabinets and tables, which will sell quickly. Millwork, including some gorgeous wooden mantelpieces looming in a corner, will not. It has fallen out of favor.

But Nordstrom is dedicated to preserving the history of Chicago. When he’s not out salvaging, he’s publishing articles about architectural history on his website and documenting the buildings from which he’s rescuing his finds. On top of this, he maintains a private museum of his most prized excavated artifacts and volunteers as an archivist at the Art Institute of Chicago.

It’s not easy work. The scouting, transporting and cleaning are hard on the body, and all of it keeps him busy more days than he would like. But he can’t help himself. History calls. “I feel like it’s a responsibility that’s been put on my shoulders, but I’m the one that did that,” he says. “I did that to myself.”

In another corner of Urban Remains is a large white screen that Nordstrom photographs each artifact in front of, even if it’s just a single antique brick, which he then posts online with a write-up. From a spot near the screen, he pulls out an old workman’s boot he found in Chicago’s Congress Theater and a late 19th-century terra-cotta fragment from a building designed by architect Louis Sullivan. “This is all dirt, dust, insanity,” he says, grinning as if he had never uttered a word about responsibility.

In an era of fast fashion, next-day delivery, and easy knockoffs, Nordstrom specializes in the niche market of urban salvage, combining business, art, local history and preservation. Salvaging can put us in touch with our city’s roots. It can also have environmental benefits. Meanwhile, research has shown the importance authenticity plays in the American purchasing consciousness: People will pay more for an object with a rich history. “Documenting the way that I do is probably the biggest reason why I’ve been in business for nearly 15 years,” Nordstrom says. “Without a doubt.”