Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

images of richard nickel taken from the time he was an ID student to weeks before he was tragically killed salvaging ornament.  courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, tim samuelson, john vinci, and ryerson and burnham. 

detailed exterior photogrpahic survey of adler and sullivan's wainwright building (1891) taken over two days on recent st. louis field trip in june of 2022. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

The harnessing of electricity is as important in human history as the first uses of fire. Naturally, nothing remains of fire’s human origins.  But the emergence of electricity is dramatically represented by the surviving light sconces from Chicago’s historic Fisk Street generating station. Upon starting operations in 1903, the Fisk Street generating station represented the power of electricity coming of...

the bldg. 51 archvie, which houses the largest repository of 2d and 3d materials pertaining to the life and work of odin j. oyen - a la crosse-based late 19th and early 20th century artist and interior decorator - will be completely digitized by the end of 2022. the oyen decorating firm traces its roots to company founder odin j...

the cleaned/not cleaned buff-colored spandrels and roofline terra cotta was executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. wright used the distinctive oversized bead or ball cornice blocks for both waller (1896) and the non-extant francisco terrace apartments (1895-1974), located just north of waller (see salvaged fragment below). the frank lloyd wright-designed waller apartments (located on the west side...

  the wrecking machine is immobile for a moment, but research on this cottage remains active, as i repeatedly visit to explore and document the house's framework -- bedecked with pegged and notched sill plates, rough-sawn white pine "sticks," and so on. both the interior and exterior have been altered so many times over the past 150 years that very little, if any, original elements...

    a compilation of images, brief comments taken from other social media platforms, and previous blog bld. 51 blog posts on louis h. sullivan's henry babson house are presented below. the babson house are richard nickel, john vinci, and david norris salvaged louis h. sullivan's 1908 henry babson house during its demolition in 1960. by looking through and digitizing images...

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved...

unidentified institute of design student photo album (discovered in the house shortly before demolition) of washington porter's kiosk sphinx taken between 1954-57. the cast concrete complex was demolished in september of 1957 to make way for chicago housing authority's lakefront properties. courtesy of tim samuelson collection. all rights reserved. 2022. 

located at 1820 w. grand avenue in the west town neighborhood of chicago, urban remains and bldg. 51 have combined forces in the form of showroom and musuem, housing carefully curated displays of historically important architectural and/or building artifacts dating from the late 19th and early 20th century. with the space nearing completion, a grand opening, along with scheduled lectures...

photographic survey (a work in progress) of the romanesque style compton hill standpipe water tower designed by architect harvey ellis in 1898. the compton hill water tower (1898), is the earliest of three extant stand pipe-water towers located in st. louis. the 179-foot water tower was built to conceal a 6-foot diameter 130-foot tall iron standpipe. standpipes were designed to control...

the bldg. 51 museum houses a large repository of ornament and artifacts representing some of chicago's finest depression-era "movie palaces" that have succumbed to demolition or short-sighted alterations and/or renovations where ornament was removed or rescued. in addition to the architectural ornament, the museum houses the archives of the short-lived architectural firm of mayger and graven, who for a time...

washington porter jr.’s "kiosk sphinx" was a custom-designed private museum built between 1928-1933 at a cost of 350,000 dollars on the rear lot of his parent’s mansion, located at 4043 lake park avenue, chicago, ills. the unusual cast concrete structure with massive steel observation tower was designed to house his sprawling collection of antiques. both mansion and kiosk were demolished...

unfortunately, i didn't have the time to systemically document a post-fire chicago wood-framed cottage located on ohio street (west town neighborhood of chicago) until it was nearly demolished. when i arrived, the facade was left partially intact and the interlocking sills and girts where exposed. sheathing and stud cavities that survived the first wave of wrecking offered a glimpse at both the...

as richard nickel once said, "it's all so god damn hopeless." knisely store and flats (1883): rubin rubel residence (1884): martin barbe residence (1884): samuel stern residence (1885): victoria hotel (1891-2): albert sullivan residence (1891): henry babson house (1908): images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive, tim samuelson, and the ryerson and burnham archive, art institute of chicago. all rights reserved...

documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament in milwaukee over 4th of july weekend. highlighted structures recorded include northwestern mutual life insurance company building (1886), frederick pabst mansion (1892), milwaukee city hall (1895), and iron block (1860). images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

recently discovered kodachrome slides of adler and sullivan commissions taken by an amateur photographer who documented much of their work between the 1960s and 1980s now digitized (see selection below). the collection includes most of their extant work in the midwest and east coast. the slides capturing buildings prior to demolition or restoration are by far the most interesting to study...

these seldom seen dated john vinci kodachrome slides offer a rare glimpse at louis h. sullivan's babson house (1908) during its demolition in 1960.  the images represent the only visual record of the babson house's untimely demise documented in color. the digitized slides have not been edited or altered in any way; i strongly feel they capture a raw and...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUly, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and all...

detailed photographic survey of richardsonian romanesque style brick and terra cotta washington terrace clock tower and gatehouse (1894) designed by harvey ellis for george r. mann. conducted in late june, 2022, st, louis, mo.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022.