Bldg. 51 Feed
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a chicago-based residential and commercial 19th century historic building materials database to become website
acquiring louis sullivan and frank lloyd architectural artifacts to bolster the bldg. 51 museum collection is very important to me, and will continue on (likely with the addition of another artifact catalog in the coming years), but as i'm nearing the ten year anniversary of urban remains, i realize the need to continually evolve and diversify in other directions in... -
bottom of the john kent russell wood-lined privy reached: yields hundreds of artifacts
we arrived early in the morning to begin where we left off a few days before. it was hard not to ruminate intensely about the implications of what we would soon discover in the circular-shaped oversized wood-lined privy during that time away. however, with tools in hand, we began to carefully dig after developing a documenting strategy to keep detailed... -
ongoing excavation efforts at the john kent russell site yields a newly discovered artifact-laden privy
while i patiently wait for the city to issue an excavation permit that will uncover any undiscovered buried remnants from the john kent russell house site before the new foundation is poured, which not only effectively ends my frequent visits to the site, but in addition, draws the fieldwork to a close. with this facet of the project completed, i... -
rapp and rapp's oriental theater was one of two focal points during open house chicago
judging from numerous channels of feedback, it's rather obvious that "open house chicago" this year was a smashing success. i'm very pleased that so many residential and commercial structures opened their doors to the public for observation, appreciation and an endless stream of photographic images populating blogs, flickr, facebook and so on. although i have visited most of the listed... -
more buildings with "sullivanesque" style midland terra cotta are coming down
the small, but visually distinctive single story commercial buildings bedecked with bright white glazed terra cotta "sullivanesque" ornament in numerous configurations on their facades are disappearing more and more from the urban landscape in and around the chicago area as the number of demolition permits seem to have greatly increased this year. the majority of the these commercial structures outfitted... -
latest update: the ever-changing c. 1876 commercial block undergoes a complete facade removal
the gallery of images presented in this posting offer the viewer a rather sad glimpse of the most recent round of alterations being made to this heavily altered c. 1876 solidly-constructed commercial block located just west of downtown chicago. earlier posts pertaining to this structure focused on the largely intact and original solid walnut wood staircases that at first were... -
the odin j. oyen collection catalog is slowly coming together
due to a number of unexpected architectural salvages, preparing the john kent russell house exhibit and overseeing the publication of the bldg. 51 museum catalog, i've finally had a little bit of time to begin working again on the odin j. oyen collection in greater detail. at this point, i'm just processing and cataloging all the materials, which includes photo... -
newly created chicago athletic association building "drooping tip" cast plaster ceiling panels ready for installation
i managed to capture the early stages of fabrication and preparation for installation of the "drooping tip" ceiling panels during my visit last week. production of the intricately detailed and well made faithful reproductions (taken awhile back from a mold of an original surviving panel) has ramped up considerably. additionally, the 8th floor dining room, where the panels were originally... -
why hasn't anyone taken a stab at writing about "unearthing chicago?"
i discovered the book "unearthing gotham" in 2002, and have read and later reexamined various chapters of this remarkable and highly informative tomb well into 2014 - especially when we began finding ash pits and privies buried beneath the john kent russell house (1855-56). i can't even begin to fathom the amount of buried remains from 19th century chicago and... -
sunday spent examining 19th century building materials and privy pit finds
the greater part of sunday was spent gathering wood samples from building sites and digging privy pits. by the time i gathered all of the materials and brought them back to the shop, i should have went home and rested. instead, i pushed on... the darkness of night was setting in, but i continued sanding wood fragments i wanted to... -
excavating the john kent russell site has spawned a new collection consisting of 19th century bottles
after spending weeks sporadically visiting the site where the pre-fire john kent russell frame house once stood, we have collected hundreds of fragments found in privies and ash pits. we have gathered enough material left behind to further understand living conditions of working class families that came and went through the doors of the russell house. the "dug" collection thus far... -
recovering the remnants of a post-chicago fire walnut wood staircase with an exceptional octagonal newel post
it appears after repeated (failed) attempts to reach out and connect with the contractor, i'm embarrassingly relegated back to the dumpster behind the commercial building constructed in 1876 (see earlier posts on this building). it's abundantly clear that money and/or avoiding crossing paths with the construction workers onsite will persuade my original contact to allow me the time needed to... -
michael reese hospital reduced to a small collection of fragments
reese was bitter from the beginning. nearly 30 buildings being vacated, or had been abandoned for years. an awful salvage experience were everything that could go wrong, went wrong. my relationship with the wrecker i had worked with for years grew tumultuous. it was hard to develop a system as to where to begin and where to end. so many... -
mid-1870's commercial building undergoing a complete gut/rehab
i've been watching this post-fire chicago commercial building located on west of downtown chicago for the past few weeks. in fact, i spent an afternoon (with consent from the contractor) photodocmenting the interior from the basement to the top floor. the building is in an ideal state (at least for me) with any and all structural members exposed, which invites... -
several 19th century "ash pits" found at the john kent russell house site
multiple "ash pits" were recently discovered (in addition to the documented brick-lined privies) on the site of the former john kent russell house as we continue to excavate before the "earth movers" roll in to finally eradicate any and all remains left by the former occupants in preparation for the construction of three-story condo. the ash pits yielded a vast... -
finding artifacts long after john kent russell's house was hauled away to the landfill
it has been several weeks since the pre-fire chicago john kent russell frame dwelling was brought down and sent off to a nearby landfill. now, the site of the former house is yet another empty lot containing dirt and residual debris strewn about. i thought for sure that would give me closure and i could move on to researching the photographs... -
the beauty is in the details: the long forgotten lakeshore athletic club nautical-themed tiles
the historically important 19-story towering beax-arts style lakeshore athletic club building was designed by renowned chicago architect jarvis hunt in 1927. the extant chicago landmark is located on a prominent corner along the shores of lake michigan. the interior boasted a gargantuan marble-clad lobby, with ornamented bronze chandeliers and gilded plasterwork. in addition, the building contained stunning ballrooms, a reading... -
documenting the odin j. oyen firm's architectural renderings is well underway
within an hour after arriving home from my buying trip in wisconsin late in the evening, i decided to push ahead and not only completely unload the haul, but proceeded to fire up the studio strobes and begin shooting selected renderings i really felt deserved immediate attention. i promised myself in the beginning that once i successfully acquired the odin... -
the odin j. oyen sign and interior decorating firm "collection" is now in the hands of the bldg. 51 museum
after waiting very patiently for nearly 16 years, the opportunity to secure the odin j. oyen design firm's "collection" of art, artifacts and personal belongings (that were formerly tucked away and undocumented) has become a reality, thanks to thoughtful and sympathetic negotiations. there are several thousand articles or objects to catalog, photodocument and ultimately publish as a collection, that i...
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