Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

the following blog entry revolves around richard nickel images documenting the removal of the louis sullivan-designed carved bedford limestone entrance lunette from the albert sullivan house's façade in 1970. the lunette is one of only a few surviving links to sullivan's work on the 1893 chicago world's fair transportation building (designed around the time the house was built). in addition to the...

a seldom found, oversized full-figured red slip glaze terra cotta eagle salesman sample and late 19th century stock pattern commerical or residential terra cotta block (see image of winkle factory with workers surrounding finished building ornament) were added to the bldg. 51 musuem archive during a recent trip to st. louis.  about the winkle terra cotta works, st. louis, mo...

series of photographs taken during a day of protest against the demolition of adler and sullivan's chicago stock exchange (1894) in 1972. campaign buttons, flyers, brochures, and posters  (see below) were handed out by preservationists to draw attention to the building's impending destruction. the images were scanned from recently discovered 35mm negatives. unidentified photographer. images and ephemera courtesy of timothy...

virtually untouched and largely intact "gardenesque" cast plaster ornament was discovered above a drop ceiling in the chicago athletic association building's cherry circle bar in 2014, when the building was being coverted into a boutique hotel. hugh garden's richly colored hidden ornament (1907) was carefully documented in situ during extensive remodeling, which included its removal (fragments, including a monogrammed "c...

virtual gallery of images representing ongoing project photodocumenting architectural ornament designed by louis h. sullivan on the facade of adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell five-story loft building erected in 1881.  note: additional images of the ground floor and what was discovered behind multiple damaging alterations will be added when time permits. further reading: DOCUMENTING DECADES WORTH OF DAMAGING ALTERATIONS TO...

i'll be posting any and all my images of every 19th or early 20th century chicago house and/or commercial structure i've documented/salvaged over the past five years. this will be a work in progress, so except the chronology to be scattered. perhaps in time, i will extend my documentation of chicago's rapidly disappearing historic cityscape back another 5-10 years to...

the following images offer a cursory glance at an ever-growing collection of ephemera, objects, and photographs  (largely owned and housed in the bldg. 51 archive) pertaining to chicago architectural preservation, with the earliest material dating back to the inception of chicago preservation movement in the 1950s (e.g., chicago heritage committee). image captions and essay will be added when time permits...

demolition of the tyler and hippach mirror company factory building (1902) is nearing completion. located at 344. north canal street, the building was designed by notable chicago church architect henry j. schlacks. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

latest, and likely the last, set of images chronicling the destruction of walter burley griffin's william f. temple house (1911), including building samples (concealed in 1918 when house was heavily altered by barry byrne) collected and documented from the demolition site. building materials collected and documented (thus far): unless otherwise noted, images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, bldg. 51 archive...

i will be adding several blog posts over the course of the year pertaining to images and artifacts from the "unearthing chicago" project that reached its end in late 2016 with the discovery of one of the earliest known downtown chicago privy pits or vaults located near state and erie streets, which consisted of bottles, flasks, pottery and other fragments...

photographic study of frank lloyd wright' b. harley bradly house (1900-1901).                Date: 1900 Address: 701 S. Harrison Avenue, Kankakee, Illinois 60901 City: Kankakee, Illinois Category: Residential Links: http://www.wrightinkankakee.org/Visit.html Accessibility: Public Restoration status: From 2005 to 2010, the house was restored to its 1901 appearance. It is now operated by Wright in Kankakee as a public museum Wright’s...

st. francis xavier school (1916-23) designed by barry byrne with sculpture by alfonso iannelli. the winged corner angels and ornamental cornice (images at very bottom of post) were later removed and bricked over. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive unless otherwise noted. all rights reserved. 2022.  period photos of school shortly after its completion, along...

June 14, 2022  Take a look at artifacts saved from a demolished Prairie Style bungalow The pedigreed Winnetka home, with parts designed by three different architects and artists of note, is being replaced by a new $3.8 million home. DENNIS RODKIN   Eric J. Nordstrom Before demolishing a pedigreed Winnetka bungalow, a luxury homebuilder gave a trio of architecture buffs permission...

in the wake of a number of demolitions that razed beautifully intact 19th century buildings, it feels redundant to pine over the loss of irreplaceable architecture and the blatant disregard for a historic landscape. instead, having returned from a vacation where i was able to read "objects to be destroyed," on the work of gordon matta-clark, it seems pertinent to...

leaded glass windows, interior fixtures, and other furnishings salvaged from the william f. tempel house have joined the bldg. 51 musuem. images include fixtures in situ when the walter burley griffin-designed house was built in 1911, along with barry byrne and alfonso iannelli addition completed in 1919.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains and the bldg. 51 archive...

richard nickel images of frank lloyd wright's dr. alison w. harlan house (1892) shortly after tragic fire in 1963 that led to its demolition. thankfully both interior and exterior fret-sawn wood panels were saved, including a restored soffit panel from underside of main balony supported in part by large metal brackets. nickel documented the interior, including the charred remains of...

a one month visual timeline capturing the slow, but steady, urban remains showroom and bldg. 51 musuem as it continues to evolve through a seemingly unending stream of artifacts arriving from storage - and a recent historically impotant house salvage. early may: mid may: late may: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains, and the bldg. 51 archive. all...

a collection of seldom seen detailed lithographs or half-tones showcasing the original custom-designed interior ornamental ironwork executed by the winslow brothers for solon s. beman's non-extant 14-story pabst neo-gothic style commercial building (1891) located in milwaukee, wisc. the images were scanned from a rare winslow brothers company periodical entitled "ornamental iron." the winslow fabricated metalwork for the majority of chicago's...

pushing lots of pixels lately to avoid burnout from setting up shop this month. revisiting thousands of dormant and/or forgotten images taken over the past decade has inspired me to pick up the camera and prepare for travel once again, where i can continue photodocumenting the past in cities across the country. one such destination i yearn to return to...

sadly, there aren't many original (that i know of) sidewalk "vault lights" (i.e., cast iron hub and glass rondel configuration) left to document in chicago. the donohue building (1883, julius speyer architect) offers one of the best examples - largely intact, multi-panel commercial entrance stoops with visible name plaques and patent dates. history       dauchy & company, chicago...