New Acquisitions

the bldg. 51 museum is collaborating with the chicago-based decorators supply company to make a very limited edition of faithfully recreated, full scale cast plaster proscenium vault ventilation domes, original to the interior adler & sulivan-designed auditorium theater (1889), designed by louis h. sullivan and sculpted by james legge. interestingly, christian schneider (who would go on to become one of...

aside from the usual collecting of historically important objects, i have been adding substantially to my collection of ephemera, in an effort to find primary sources that may bolster or enhance the narratives i've gathered around historically-significant architectural building elements or artifacts in the bldg. 51 museum. for example, i recently purchased several profusely illustrated letterheads, business cards, and receipts tied...

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog. the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories.

the bldg. 51 museum recently secured an original and largely intact louis sullivan-designed cast plaster proscenium vault "star-pod" panel salvaged from adler & sullivan's garrick theater auditorium during its demolition in early 1961. originally named the schiller theater, the building was designed by louis sullivan and dankmar adler in 1891 at 64 west randolph street. it was intended to serve...

  in addition to the week's acquisition of plaster frieze work from frank lloyd wright's dana-thomas house, the bldg. 51 museum has obtained numerous historically important fragments of plasterwork from adler & sullivan's garrick theater auditorium. originally named the schiller theater, the building was designed by louis sullivan and dankmar adler in 1891 at 64 west randolph street. it was...

this post concerns an entire city block, containing a collection of historically significant post-fire "athens marble" italianate style rowhouses. each has witnessed fires, neglect, utter abandonment, and demolition since the houses were completed in 1874. in these rather depressing "ruins," i could only catch a glimpse of the street's former self.         the present day block is pocked...

an excavation site just west of the m. schultz company piano factory and showroom (erected in 1889) yielded several artifacts spanning several decades. the earliest identifiable object was a small dark amber glass fragment with an embossed letter that once belonged to a quart-sized william h. hutchinson ale bottle hand-blown by the william mccully company (pittsburgh, pa.) sometime during the...

    long after the hodgepodge of 19th and 20th century buildings forming the ace hardware on ashland were demolished last year, excavation work finally began. multiple machines dug deep below grade in preparation for the foundation work of a new development, and just a few days later i was summoned to the site when a machine operator stumbled upon a massive...

a pair of leaded glass windows original to the henry babson house (salvaged before its demolition in 1960) were purchased for the bldg. 51 museum this month. since i only aimed to acquire a single window for the museum, the counterpart made its way to cultural historian and friend tim samuelson. aside from gifting the window to tim, i got...

the isidore h. heller house was designed by architect frank lloyd wright and its design is credited as one of the turning points in wright's shift to geometric, prairie school architecture, which is defined by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, and an integration with the landscape, which is meant to...

research continues on a marvelous brick mansion that is in the process of being converted into a pre-school. the structure envelops two city lots, and appears to have been built around 1887.     to accommodate the needs of the developers and satisfy building codes, the interior has been subject to alteration. unfortunately this means the original hand-carved oak staircase...

a wide array of american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or objects have been steadily added to the massive urban remains virtual catalog for a few weeks now. with the completion of a gold coast mansion salvage earlier this week, we have been working long hours to document, clean and photograph several exceptional interior elements that will be highlighted in a...

while looking for a hopkins and dickenson doorknob the other day, i ran across several boxes of "personal collection" 19th century builders' hardware i've had stowed away for years. when i pull the lid from the first container, i immediately recognized doorknobs from the william k. vanderbilt mansion (known as the "eagle's nest) and rare bronze doorknobs from louis h...

when companies are contracted by the city to demolish and replace structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks, their saw-cutting methods typically go beyond the curb and well into the street. the work continues with subsequent digging in and around the street, involving the removal of several inches of asphalt followed by older concrete and finally, well-preserved 19th or early 20th century fired...

several "after sunset" fixtures were removed from an art modern house undergoing renovations late last week. the american art deco depression era fixtures were designed and fabricated by or for the lightolier corp., jeannette, pennsylvania. the super streamlined machine age electric fixtures are comprised largely of yellow brass with highly polished chrome-plated finishes. the futuristic or "jetsonesque" fixtures contain maroon enameled...

i've spent a great deal of time in the congress theater attic space, a place where time seems to stand still. in the upper canopy of the building i find a rare quiet and peace, and often find myself overwhelmed with a sense of calm where I can heighten my awareness of the environment as i navigate with my head...

after slowing down some, i find myself deeply immersed again in the "unearthing chicago" project long after i finished cataloging several extensively archived chicago dig sites for the soon-to be-published "unearthing chicago" book (bldg. 51 museum press) due out this year. like any other project i've worked on, it's hard to turn away when opportunities arise to collect more data...

the bldg. 51 museum has recently assembled several architectural artifacts from buildings (demolished or heavily altered/modified) designed by henry ives cobb for an upcoming exhibit highlighting his work. an exceptionally well-made and intricately designed late 19th or early 20th century american gothic style interior ornamental cast bronze wall-mount drinking fountain, salvaged long ago from the university of chicago's cobb hall...

i was taken aback when i discovered a seemingly endless field of debris (several decades worth) covering the floor of a gargantuan plenum duct running under the congress theater's auditorium floor. i spent a good deal of time combing through piles of candy wrappers, matchbooks, ticket stubs, and popcorn boxes, but when the pain from crouching for nearly an hour...

the relentless search to aquire, identify, and document historically important remnants from chicago building demolished or altered has greatly assisted in driving the bldg. 51 museum collection and archive's sustained momentum and/or growth in the new year. while the museum's core mission remains sharply focused on chicago-related architectural artifacts bearing historical significance, the sizable collection of historic building materials (e.g., studs...