New Acquisitions

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of DECEMBER have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

urban remains recently acquired one of the largest known collections of original 19th century american victorian-era salvaged chicago majolica figural tiles and fireplace surrounds executed in a multitude of rich color schemes and elaborate designs. examples from this remarkable collection are shown below. update as of 11-24-2020: since the acquisition of one of the largest 19th century majolica tile collections...

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired late 19th century original and completely intact brand brewery administration building terra cotta roofline ornament executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the remarkable and historically important ornamental square-shaped block was salvaged from the brewery complex during its demolition in 2012. the brand brewery was designed by prolific chicago architect louis lehle...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of NOVEMBER have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

months after the newly-built united center indoor sports arena (home to both the chicago bulls and the blackhawks) opened in august of 1995, demolition of chicago stadium began in march of 1995 (its site is now a parking lot for the united center across the street). news channel cnn televised the demolition, showing devoted both blackhawks and bulls fans crying as the wrecking...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of SEPTEMBER have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

several historically important george grant elmslie (1877-1926) designed terra cotta fragments salvaged from the thomas a. edison school (1936-37) hammond, indiana) during its demolition in 1991, have been added to the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum and archive collection.  elmslie's last commissions built during his life were done in collaboration with architect and engineer william s. sutton (1890-1975), who's firm resided...

while researching holabird's and roche's architectural commissions (i.e., commercial buildings within chicago's loop)  from the late 19th century, i had a difficult time tracking images of the cable building (1899) . i knew richard nickel was brought onboard through som and/or the historic american building survey to document the building inside and out shortly before and during it's demolition in...

the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum archive as of august, 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, with detailed captions, will highlight some of the more notable and historically important architectural artifacts acquired earlier this year.  the image...

original exterior terra cotta fragment salvaged by richard nickel in 1967 when he documenting the demolition of adler & sullivan's meyer building or commercial lofts (1892). the 7-story structure was commissioned by the estate of m.a. meyer, a former partner in selz, schwab, & company. the richly colored exterior frieze or band panel with rear cavities and/or webbing intact, was...

the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the following posts offer insight into what chicagoan's from the past left behind. additional introductory material will...

rediscovering a 1920's softbound catalog and/or booklet while rearranging my library the other day proved to be both rewarding and informative. after pouring over the images and descriptions time and again, i finally pinpointed the fabricator of the plaster ornament used to "dress" the palace theater's (1928) stunning interior.   in addition, i was taken aback when i came across "in...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of AUGUST have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

the following gallery of images (59 in total) were culled from the "unearthing chicago" project archive (2014-1017). with over 15,000 images documenting objects found in chicago's subterranean portals to the past, along with meticulously cataloging and photographing these unearthed objects in studio after project completion, i will continue to add these images  to subsequent posts in preparation for the launch...

urban remains recently acquired one of the largest known collections of original 19th century american victorian-era salvaged chicago majolica figural tiles and fireplace surrounds executed in a multitude of rich color schemes and elaborate designs. examples from this remarkable collection are shown below. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and urban remains. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and urban...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JULY have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

peter b. wight (1838–1925) was an american 19th-century architect who practiced in new york city and chicago. wight's work in 1860s and 1870s new york evolved from a decorative, historicist style that paralleled the work of european designers john ruskin and augustus welby northmore pugin. after the great chicago fire of 1871, wight came to chicago and developed an interest in...

in a previous post, i provided an in depth background on the early edison bergmann socket discovered in the non-extant 1893 columbus building in 1959. here i will revisit that for a moment before introducing a recently acquired socket and fixture salvaged from the adler & sullivan morris selz residence completed in 1883. note: click below for additional information on...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUNE have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

offering a rare glimpse at the evolution of a historically significant architectural masterpiece, bldg. 51 has recently obtained a set of linen work drafts for the historic chicago rookery building. designed for burnham and root under the project name “order no. 918”, the fourteen iron and glass skylight design linens create a collection of deeply informative and highly technical drafts...