Miscellaneous

the gallery consists of building materials and other odds and ends discovered in the russell house while salvaging the artifacts that are currently available for sale on the urban remains website. a booklet and a weekend architectural artifact exhibit (i.e., containing these objects and more) designed to provide further insight into the building methodologies and materials will likely be launched...

despite numerous trips to photodocument the chicago athletic association building (1893), i never paid much attention to the sleek and streamlined cherry circle bar, located in the building annex (designed by schmidt, garden and martin in 1907). the other week, i poked my head inside the room with the expectation that no changes had taken place since my last visit...

demolition of the historically important pre-fire chicago john kent russell house is now on the horizon. after a very long life, i was very fortunate to document its last days before it is reduced to splintered wood and rubble. we were told it was to be demolished this thursday; however, on our last spirited push to tie up loose ends...

detaching myself from the ongoing (and seemingly never ending) john kent russell salvage in order to revisit and photodocument any and all changes made to the chicago athletic association building, was both refreshing and therapeutic. i managed to devote an entire afternoon (earlier this week) to reacquaint myself with the building and begin photographing the alterations that have taken place since...

the bldg. 51 museum just acquired three magnificent electric light fixtures removed from the extant historic uptown theater designed by rapp and rapp. the lot consists of two matching single light sconces and a ceiling-mount pendant light with original canopy. the fixtures are comprised of finely executed ornamental bronze metal with the original gilded ormolu (i.e.,metallic gold-plated finish) remaining largely...

despite being consumed salvaging the john kent russell house, along with painstakingly documenting the chicago athletic association building, i did manage to make it over to the historic division street bridge (what was left of it) to photograph its final days. by the time i arrived one afternoon, there were large segments of the bridge haphazardly cut apart and scattered...

shortly after a a good friend and i finished a lengthy and rather productive discussion over existing structures from 1850's chicago, i once again prepared for another afternoon at the pre-fire john kent russell house (salvage in progress as of late last week). instead of developing a game plan for salvaging exterior artifacts (e.g., brackets or corbels, etc.), i chose...

 

the winslow brothers foundry (specializing in ornamental iron and bronze work) was founded around 1887 by brothers william and francis winslow. within a very short time thereafter, the winslow brothers would become one of the most accomplished foundries; outfitting numerous notable buildings and residences with skillfully executed metal ornament well into the 20th century. as early as 1881 william winslow was involved...

the bldg. 51 virtual museum website overhaul was completed late last week. the overall design of the new website and its treatment of artifacts was guided by the final layout of the softbound catalog that will be available for purchase in the coming weeks (we are currently taking pre-orders at the moment). the 51 website will provide supplemental material (e.g...

i spent hours pouring over thousands of stunning city of chicago images taken by charles cushman spanning the late 1930's to the late 1950's. i selected several images that impacted me in one form or another and compiled them together in the gallery below. i strongly recommend setting aside an afternoon to freely explore cushman's remarkable photography (see link below...

shortly before the historic division street riveted plate steel bascule bridge (constructed in 1902-03) was fenced off in preparation for demolition, i spent an afternoon photodocumenting it from what felt like every conceivable angle to satisfy my mind's eye. accessing the hydraulic machinery below or underside of the bridge was rather challenging, but accomplished nonetheless. the north branch chicago river canal bridge...

beginning monday a demolition crew will begin deconstructing the historic division street bridge located near goose island. the city will be replacing the 111-year-old bascule type (commonly referred to as a drawbridge) with an interim span while building a permanent replacement. the bridge was originally built in 1904 and has served as an integral link across goose island for cars...

the gallery below contains a small collection of images taken of ganz hall (originally the banquet hall) at the auditorium building while i attended the lecture given by the architecture firm booth hansen. i must admit, i was much more consumed with processing sullivan's design elements than focusing my attention on the lecture itself. i'm not going to step onto...

we just recently acquired two matching c. 1915-18 original and intact american industrial crouse-hinds "explosion proof" incandescent light fixtures with unusual riveted joint yellow brass flat bar or strap cages. both fixtures have been thoroughly cleaned and refinished to greatly enhance the visual contrast between the brass and iron. the "sun-purple" impact-resistant original glass globe provides additional color, resulting in...

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...

 

interior elements from the historically significant gethsemane missionary baptist church were salvaged earlier this week. during the process, i experienced a bit of a freak accident, when i fell off a ladder, bruising ribs and spraining my left arm. having been in the dark and intensely hot crawl space high above the hanging cross (preparing it for removal) for over an...