Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

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. all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 70,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of FEBRUARY, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories.  images and ornament...

examples of early commercial and residential ornamental terra cotta executed by northwestern terra cotta works (true, brunkhorst & co., lake view terra cotta & brick company, and the chicago terra cotta company acquired by urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem. the majority of the exterior red slip architectural terra cotta dates to the early 1880s. several chicagoans have been...

the following images and accompanying descriptions highlight the bldg. 51 museum archive's universe of rare out-of-print period architectural and/or building trade catalogs awaiting to be fully scanned and made available on the bldg. 51 website within the next few years.  rare depression-era profusely illustrated softbound sargent hardware catalog offering a detailed selection of art deco or moderne designed hardware for...

the church and parish house were designed by henry hobson richardson and construction took place from 1872 to 1877, when the complex was consecrated. situated on copley square in back bay, trinity church is the building that established richardson's reputation. it is the birthplace and archetype of the richardsonian romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. this style...

a largely intact 19th century five-story mixed-use commerical building featuring a unique facade comprised of lightly incised lemont and bedford limestone, will be demolished in the coming weeks. located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue, the victorian-era structure was built in 1884, housing a funeral parlor and wholesale grocer (frederick kosche and son (frederick and ernest f. kosche) on the first...

a virtual gallery of carefully sourced and meticulously documented museum-quality 19th and early 20th century ornamental metalwork from historically important american commercial and residential structures housed in the bldg. 51 museum archive. the majority of the ornament, including custom-designed builders' hardware, comes from chicago buildings erected by prominent architectural firms of the late 19th century, including, but not limited to...

new york, a.j. bicknell & co., architectural book publishers, 1873 full sub-title (set in a dazzling array of different typefaces)! "showing a great variety of designs for cornices, brackets, windows, window caps, doors, piazzas, porches, bay and dormer windows, observatories, towers, chimney tops, balconies, canopies, scrolls, gable and sawed ornaments, fences, stairs, newels, architraves, mantels, plaster finish, etc., etc. including...

three photographic images taken of louis h. sullivan-designed ornament adorning adler and sullivan buildings by notable photographers aaron siskind and richard nickel in the 1950s for the institute of design photo section project. sadly, only one of the three adler and sullivan commissions remains standing. first image: carved bedford limestone impost block detail from adler and sullivan's walker warehouse (1892...

the following five bottles and/or bottle fragments were culled from the bldg. 51 museum "unearthing chicago" project archive based on their captivating narratives. images of the bottles and the links to their forgotten histories are found below.          MID-19TH CENTURY BOTTLES UNEARTHED DURING THE DEMOLITION AND SUBSEQUENT EXCAVATION OF CHICAGO'S "S CURVE" THOUSANDS OF ARTIFACTS UNEARTHED BEHIND...

the following objects, culled from various ongoing projects, were selected and assembled as a hodgepodge cohered by the single theme of being utilitarian objects from chicago's past. when we can flesh out the context in which these originally existed, they take on a new meaning as functional pieces of a larger whole, and are harder to discard. even so, objects...

the bldg. 51 museum recently aquired an original buff-colored ornamental and tapered buff-colored terra cotta column from the otto strack-designed pabst beer pavilion built for the world's columbian exposition of 1893. the pavilion was located in central hall of the fair's agricultural building, designed by designed by charles mckim of mckim, mead & white. the historically important terra cotta structural...

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...

it is well known that louis sullivan spent the last two decades of his life and career mired in dire poverty. the architect responsible for defining chicago's architectural ethos, and for raising some of the most exceptional skyscrapers would find himself in dismal poverty, reliant on close friends for financial support (including frank lloyd wright and dankmar adler's son) as...

as demolition of the early 20th century building housing the storied pacific garden mission - more commonly known as the "old lighthouse" - was drawing to a close, a battered and broken floor safe was found in the rubble. the diminutive, baked enameled black safe, with wood compartmentalized interior, was partially hidden under a field of old blank stationary, bibles and...

burnham and root's house for edward e. ayer, a wealthy chicagoan who made his wealth as a supplier of railroad ties. the exterior rubble walls were comprised of split granite boulders. the ironwork was truly remarkable as seen in the hinged gate, massive strap hinges on the entrance doors, and stair railings flaring out from the arched entrance. the oak...

louis h. sullivan-designed commercial and residential architectural ornament housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection: all images by eric j. nordstrom. ornament courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.

some of the most unique artifacts in the bldg. 51 collection (and for sale in the urban remains warehouse) are rescued from non-extant theaters hearkening to the early 20th century theater boom. aside from remarkable light fixtures, seating, decorative plaster and exterior elements from these long gone movie palaces, the technological gadgetry from atmospheric theaters count among the more easily overlooked...

rediscovered images from the richman brothers downtown chicago department store building salvaged in july of 2007.  the building was formerly known as the bee hive dry goods store constructed in 1884 by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan. traces of the original facade were wiped away when in 1929, when the building underwent an extensive remodel or “facadectomy” consisting...

photograhic survey of character-defining features found on the exterior of 19th and 20th century buildings located in chicago. architectural details include, but not limited to, datestones, name (includes mongrams) plaques, and emblematic designs identifying the structure's identity, purpose or function. IMAGES COURTESY OF ERIC J. NORDSTROM AND THE BLDG. 51 ARCHIVE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2022.