Travel

the first state bank of manilus, ills., was one of parker berry's earliest commissions after spending 8 years as louis h. sullivan's chief draftsman. the two-story red brick sullivanesque style bank building was designed in 1915 with john wesley berry as building contractor. despite being a casualty of the great depression, the building still stands largely intact. note: i've included...

i finally had the opportunity to visit and meticulously document louis sullivan's purdue state bank (completed in 1914)  over the weekend. the images (see below) are all exterior with an emphasis placed on the richly colored glazed terra cotta and tapestry brick. located in west lafayette, ind., the purdue state bank is the smallest and least expensive "jewel box" he...

a selection of stories from 2019: over a decade devoted to documenting and salvaging chicago's architectural past a look back at images of tribune tower's continued transformation in 2019 documenting louis sullivan-designed carved berlin sandstone panels on facade of 1881 s.a. maxwell loft building bldg. 51 and ryerson archive collaboration on chicago stock exchange trading room exhibit now open exhaustive...

the following links provide access to hundreds of images taken of 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant residential and commercial structures in and around downtown milwaukee, taken over the past several years. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive.  WEEKEND TRIP TO MILWAUKEE: WORKER COTTAGES, SOLOMON BEMAN, TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT AND INCISED BUILDING...

photographic study of h.h. richardson's sever hall (1878-1880) exterior east facade brick ornament adorning east facade. the richly carved brick ornament was likely executed by the peerless brick company, philadelphia, pa. the 3-story building (4th story set within roof) was constructed using nearly 1.3 million bricks, with around 100,000 used for the facade. the building's facade ornament, constructed of cut...

photographic survey (in progress) of sullivan-designed red slip terra cotta spandrel panels, capitals and cornice on wainwright building by adler and sullivan and c.k. ramsey (1891). the 10-story building's terra cotta ornament was fabricated by the winkle terra cotta company (incorporated in 1889), st. louis, mo. i haven't been able to identify the modeler of sullivan's ornament for wainwright. it's...

faced with a tight schedule revolving around back-to-back lectures given by john vinci on louis sullivan's ornament, i didn't have much time to document the architecture of st. louis like i did the year before. thankfully, vinci and i stayed in adler and sullivan's union trust building (now a boutique hotel renamed "saint louis") so i had time to photograph...

during a recent trip to st. louis accompanied by john vinci and tim samuelson, we made a visit to edwardsville, where richard nickel's architectural ornament collection is housed. nickel sold his original collection - where he amassed early adler and sullivan ornament during chicago's land clearance project in the late 1950s under the guidance of jack randall for 12,000 in...

the following blog posts provide a detailed photographic survey of louis sullivan's  interior and exterior architectural ornament adorning his midwest banks built between 1908-1919. A PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF LOUIS H. SULLIVAN'S 1914 MERCHANTS' NATIONAL BANK ORNAMENT DOCUMENTING LOUIS SULLIVAN-DESIGNED INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR PEOPLES SAVINGS BANK ORNAMENT LOUIS H. SULLIVAN'S OWATONNA BANK: A BUILDING BURSTING WITH ORNAMENT A CLOSER LOOK AT...

over the past two decades, i've taken tens of thousands of images of milwaukee's architecture, and the vast collection of images continues to grow each time i visit, espeically when newly discovered residential and commercial buildings are added to my "circuit." like the work i do in chicago, a book on milwaukee's architecture ornament is long overdue.  the following gallery...

the following gallery of photographic images represents only a fraction of images taken during a brief visit to minneapolis in july of 2019. the majority of the work focuses on late 19th and early 20th century exterior commercial building architectural ornament, with an emphasis on commissions by the firm of long and kees (1885-1897) and sullivanesque ornament designed by kees...

i spent two days in minneapolis documenting building ornament designed by the architectural firm of of kees and colborn. the first building i shot was the minneapolis grain excahnge (1900-02). the cream-colored "sullivanesque" ornament is quite unique - unlike the majority of drab stock patterns supplied by chicago's midland terra cotta company. if i recall correctly, the building's ornament was...

i've traveled repeatedly to the city of aurora to thoroughly document george grant elmslie's five commercial buildings with an emphasis placed on the exterior terra cotta ornament he designed for each commission. aurora is home to the largest number of commercial buildings designed by elmslie.  the buildings are as follows: keystone building, 1923. old second national bank, 1924.  german-american bank...

the following gallery represents only a fraction of photographic images taken of louis h. sullivan's 1914 merchants' national bank during my trip to iowa, as i forge ahead documenting the ornament of his "jewel boxes" designed and built in small towns across the midwest between 1909 and 1919. when time permits, i will be posting additional images taken during my...

images from my photographic study of louis h. sullivan's peoples savings bank completed in 1911. located in cedar rapids fall, ia., peoples savings was the second of sullivan's "jewel boxes" built in small towns across the midwest. the bank was the last commission george grant elmslie assisted sullivan on.  LOUIS H. SULLIVAN'S OWATONNA BANK: A BUILDING BURSTING WITH ORNAMENT the...

  over the past decade, i've taken tens of thousands of images of milwaukee architecture, and it continues to grow each and every time i visit, espeically when newly discovered residential and commercial buildings are added to my "circuit." like the work i do in chicago, a book on milwaukee's architecture is long overdue.  the following gallery of images represent just a fraction of images...

april 7th, 2019: a small selection of images from my photographic documentation of late 19th and early 20th century buildings (emphasis on architectural ornament as always) in and around salt lake city taken over the weekend.  when time permits, will need to retrace my steps (thankfully i take meticulous notes of each location) and assign narratives to these buildings.  historically...

the following images were taken during a brief visit to la crosse, wisconsin, a small historic city founded in 1848 on the mississippi river, where several surviving 19th century workers cottages, italianate commercial buildings, and chicago prairie school structures contribute to cityscape rich in heritage, history, and visual character.  i've included a small faction of the overall survey, with an...

i've waited a very long time - too long - to document adler & sullivan's wainwright building. studying the wainwright through through the eyes of hugh morrison, aaron siskind, richard nickel, and john szarkowski bolstered my interest and desire to see it for myself. with chicago architect john vinci by my side with camera and commentary, i was fortunate to...

one of two figural red slip-glazed terra cotta panels adorning fourth street school (1890). the richardonsian romanesque style school, now known as golda meir school, was built by architect -henry c. koch (perhaps best known for milwaukee's city hall building, completed in 1895).  the two matching panels flank a long and narrow terra cotta plaque with the words "public school...