Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

the second german evangelical zion church, designed by chicago architect  theodore duesing and completed in 1905, has been issued a demolition permit that will likely be released in the coming weeks. the chicago church was built on the northeast corner of ashland and hastings for 35,000 thousand dollars with the dimensions recorded as 60 x 114 feet.  the german evangelical...

latest photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey is provided below. the architectural ornament is sourced from extant late 19th and early 20th century buildings within chicago's city limits. the majority of the buildings enjoy landmark status, while others are relatively unknown, but are dressed with highly stylized architectural ornament executed in a variety of mediums, including, but not...

seldom seen richard nickel images of holabird and roche's cable building interior, shortly before it was demolished in 1962 and replaced with c.f. murphy's continental center. nickel salvaged some of the street level terra cotta ornament, but i believe all of it was later tossed when sections of navy pier housing it were demolished. i haven't seen or heard of any...

one of the most visually striking and architecturally distinctive features within notable architect henry i. cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893) is the highly detailed, tracery-laden "drooping tip" cast plaster ceiling, comprised of interlocking gridded panels reinforced with metal mesh cones and illuminated with single incandescent "bare bulb" lights accentuating the tips. the ornamental ceiling (reconstructed in 2015) is located...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUNE have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

offering a rare glimpse at the evolution of a historically significant architectural masterpiece, bldg. 51 has recently obtained a set of linen work drafts for the historic chicago rookery building. designed for burnham and root under the project name “order no. 918”, the fourteen iron and glass skylight design linens create a collection of deeply informative and highly technical drafts...

continued photo-documentation of chicago tribune printing plant building (east of tower) designed by jarvis hunt in 1920, predating howells and hood's gothic revival limestone tower by five years.  the heavily fortified plant housed the gargantuan printing presses, printing plates and enormous paper rolls used in printing the tribune's paper. the newsroom, located on the top floor of the printing plant quickly...

the chicago "l" dates back to the late 19th century, when the privately owned south side elevated railroad company was incorporated in 1888. the first four miles - much of which is still used in chicago's modern day "loop," opened in 1892 and ran from the congress terminal (near the present day site of the harold washington library) to state...

albert w. sullivan house (1892-1970): 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 virtual gallery presented below, offers a detailed account of the latest historically important architectural materials added to the bldg. 51 archive in spring of 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, will touch upon some of the more notable and historically important documents and/or objects found below. when time permits, detailed captions will be added to each and every...

a selection of exterior detail photographic images of sullivan-designed ornament for adler and sullivan's guaranty building (1896) taken during a trip to buffalo in 2017. the ornamental ironwork was executed by the winslow brothers, chicago, ills. the exterior terra cotta was fabricated by northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. kristian schneider modeled the majority of the ornament. the 13-story steel...

one of many cold-rolled sheet iron original ceiling-mount carbon arc spotlights used to illuminate events held at chicago stadium. the turned wood knob and glass fresnel lens are original. vibrantly colored used matchbook cover with encircled "c" logo (adopted by william wrigley when he acquired the chicago cubs) and cobb's facade flanked by a laurel wreath. early 20th century...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of april have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

photographic study of louis h. sullivan-designed polychromed terra cotta ornament adorning the van allen building or department store located in clinton, ia. the four-story commercial building was commissioned by john van allen and constructed between 1912-14 as louis h. sullivan as architect. to achieve a rhythmic balance, sullivan designed false dividers on the main facade to make the width of...

yesterday afternoon marked the final visit to methodically photo-document the facade of adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell loft building facade. with ample time and unabridged use of the swing stage, i managed to record any and all of sullivan's ornament, executed in both ohio sandstone and enameled cast iron. the majority of the images in the gallery below, revolve around...

Across the country, these dedicated entrepreneurs breathe new life into old materials. Preserving Chicago’s Architectural History Four days a week, Eric Nordstrom, 43, visits buildings in the Chicago area that are about to be razed. From homes, theaters, offices and factories, he excavates what he thinks is valuable – vintage lighting, antique folk art, film reels, theater seating – and...

latest photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey (as of april, 2020) is provided below. the architectural ornament is sourced from extant late 19th and early 20th century buildings within chicago's city limits. the majority of the buildings enjoy landmark status, while others are relatively unknown, but are dressed with highly stylized architectural ornament executed in a variety of...

second take on a photographic study of louis h. sullivan-designed getty tomb (1890) ornament, executed in carved bedford limestone and cast bronze: the carrie eliza getty tomb was commissioned in 1890 by lumber baron henry harrison getty for his wife carrie eliza. it was designed by louis h. sullivan of adler & sullivan. getty chose sullivan based on his appreciation...

while en route to a demolition in the wicker park neighborhood of chicago, i came across an unusual renovation or demolition, some kind of chaotic project that left the structural components of a 19th century two-story framed cottage fully exposed for both the eye and camera to ponder. after speaking with the "wreckers," it was made clear that the remaining...

the 10-story wainwright building is an early skyscraper designed by the architectural firm of dankmar adler and louis sullivan in 1891. The steel-framed commercial building was named for local brewer, building contractor, and financier ellis wainwright. the wainwright building was the second major commission for a tall office building by adler & sullivan, which had grown to international prominence after...