Bldg. 51

this ornamented radiator grille, fabricated for the cyrus mccormick mansion remodel - where only two were actually installed - is considered to be the purest expression of a louis h. sullivan design executed in three-dimensional form by the winslow brothers foundry of chicago. interestingly, george grant elmslie (sullivan's chief draftsman) recalled that, upon presentation of the design or drawings to...

the c. 1901 ornamental cast iron cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille is by far one of the most significant acquisitions (as of recent) to join the ever-growing collection of historically important chicago building artifacts and/or fragments housed in the bldg. 51 museum. the oversized grille or grate is so delicate and intricately designed that, according to an account by...

i revisited the chicago athletic association building this afternoon. i spent several hours moving up, down, and all around the scaffolding covering the building's facade.  i've made a point to include images of tradesman signatures and the adjoining building, originally known as the gage brothers and company building, with a terra cotta facade designed by louis h. sullivan in 1898. in...

the late 19th century historic fisher building designed by architects charles atwood and daniel h. burnham is bedecked with distinctive ornament on the inside and out. the terra cotta-clad neo-gothic style skyscraper was commissioned by paper magnate lucius fisher. the images here, show a distinctive figural (i.e., mythical aquatic creature) design motif found throughout the building. on the macro level...

on sunday afternoon of the memorial day weekend, i managed to make time to visit frank lloyd wright's winter home and school known as taliesin west, which is located on a southern slope of the mcdowell range overlooking paradise valley outside scottsdale, arizona.  wright would spend his winters there, beginning in 1937, until the time of his death in 1959, at the age...

i've decided to add more posts pertaining to "gardenesque" ornament, perhaps inspired by what i've discovered in the chicago athletic association building (a topic i've written about before) and more recently, my revisitation of the ornamental terra cotta elements i managed to salvage from the michael reese "main" hospital building during its demolition. there is a very dense and highly...

after a long day of extensive shooting at the chicago athletic association building the other day, i purposely went out of my way to photograph sullivan's intricate organic design motifs covering the schlesinger & mayer building's corner entrance. i never grow tired of studying the ornament from a number of angles as i endlessly pace back and forth around the base...

the fate of the historic roanoke building's c. 1914 basement general distribution switchboard remains uncertain. "offline" or disconnected since 1940, the largely intact black slate-backed "open" switchboard, with visually appealing glass enclosed watthour, volt and amp meters, along with oversized copper "knife" switches and incised-letter plaques is a work of art, in and of itself. i was under the strong...

the photographs taken by eric. j. nordstrom were taken bottom-up, beginning at the building's midsection. the last "period" image of the building - around the turn of the century - can be used as your guide to pinpoint the locations where nordstrom's detailed images were taken. nearly 300 photographs were taken over the course of two hours high above on...

the trade signs found on or around the exterior and/or interior commercial building storefronts took on many forms in early american cities. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because of its design, was completely self-explanatory in terms of the trade it represented.   several skilled artisans...

i was virtually alone. free to explore. with cameras and lenses strapped to my body, i wandered around every nook and cranny, meticulously documenting the sulllivan ornament that was all around me. it was very dark, despite 3,500 glowing carbon filament incandescent light bulbs. the theater's interior is a true portal to the past, at least in my mind. it...

last week the bldg. 51 museum acquired an exceptionally rare and historically important late 19th century ornamental cast iron guaranty (later prudential) building flush mount ceiling light fixture medallion. the all original fixture was removed from the commercial building's interior lobby during a senseless remuddling in the 1950's. several light fixtures (including this medallion) and elevator components were taken out...

three virtually identical (condition varies) chicago stock exchange staircase balusters or panels designed by notable architect louis h. sullivan were acquired earlier this week and later added to the urban remains website product catalog. the historically important and highly sought after angled balusters were salvaged from the 1894 stock exchange building shortly before demolition in 1972. the balusters are comprised...

milwaukee is my home away from home, especially when i really want to wander around aimlessly, photodocumenting architectural details that capture my attention across the urban landscape. don't get me wrong, there is a substantial amount of terrain for me to document here in chicago, but for some reason or another, milwaukee speaks to me differently - through my camera lens.

in a single afternoon, six gargantuan hand carved limestone eagles were carefully hoisted from their perches that wrapped around three sides of the bunte candy factory water tower prior to demolition. the massive prairie school style factory complex was designed by the notable chicago-based architectural firm of schimdt, garden & martin in 1919.  

i spent a few hours the other day photographing any and all alterations that have been made since my last visit a few weeks prior. progress has been made, but not on a large scale - at least as of yet. regardless, i tend to find myself gravitating towards the rooms where the original architectural details have been left alone...

notable chicago prairie school architect louis h. sullivan designed builders' hardware for a number his buildings while working with dankmar adler during the 1890's. the non-extant chicago stock exchange building - constructed in 1894 - contained some of his finest hardware designs (the guaranty building was the other exceptional example with documented drawings for an escutcheon). the hardware used in...

the highly anticipated bldg. 51 museum artifact catalog will be available for sale - both online and in stores by late summer. the limited edition (print quantity of 500) catalog is divided into three major sections, consisting of artifacts from notable building commissions by architect frank lloyd wright, louis h. sullivan, and chicago area buildings and theaters chosen both on...

i'm posting a few images of my personal collection... my interests are constantly evolving as i continually explore the vast  and varied "artifact universe", where many sub-collections have spawned from. as the collection grows, i've decided it is time to begin documenting these artifacts in the form of a series of catalogs, with the first due out in late april/early...

if my light source went dark, i would be in world of trouble. with a respirator, layer upon layer of clothing, clunky steel toe boots, tool belt and a headband flashlight, i began walking across this vast crawl space filled with criss-crossing structural iron trusses and a sea of incredibly dark and dusty plaster strung up by hundreds of steel...