Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

images from an unexpected tour of the south side of chicago on a saturday afternoon with tim samuelson and john vinci. buildings will be assigned captions when time permits.      images from unexpected tour revisited (self-guided):

group of images taken from the tribune building on 11-12-1933. unidentified photographer. silver gelatin photos with ink crop markings were cut from a kodak velox contact sheet with notes on verso. images courtesy of the bldg. 51 museum archive.

1961 richard nickel kodachrome slide of john vinci working on stencil recovery from adler & sullivan's garrick theater. under crombie taylor's direction, wall sections from garrick theater - then under demolition - were cut out and brought back to taylor's home where john vinci, david norris and others spent weeks scraping away layers of paint... what they found is...

a permit to demolish the southside chicago comed substation (1924) - located at 6141 s. prairie ave - was received on 3-14-2018. i've included additional images of the building's interior and cast iron and limestone ornament designed by herman v. von volst. the building's architect is perhaps best known for taking on the responsibility of heading up frank lloyd wright's...

taking on more projects when already burned out beyond belief takes its toll - both physically and mentally. however, i've mastered the ability to ignore the warning signs (again and again) when situations arise where i know i need to act - whether its documenting the death of a building or in this case, purchasing a massive amount of louis...

update from a previous post documenting the death of 2252 n. orchard - an 1870's post-fire italianate with original bracketed wood cornice and artificial stone window hoods with centrally located keystones. i have never worked with this wrecker so i'm on the sidelines documenting the carnage. based on the now-destroyed solid walnut staircase with multi-faceted newel post and corbels found...

the following collection of historically important photographic images - now digitized and added to the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum online archive - reflects ongoing efforts to completely digitize the archives of architect john vinci and historian tim samuelson - who together, hold a massive repository of images and artifacts from 19th and 20th century chicago buildings. when time permits, the...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago the five story concrete flat slab constructed 1958 building designed by graham, anderson, probst & white at 110 n wacker has been undergoing demolition for the past several weeks. thousands of loop office workers have been able to witness this large scale operation unfold as the former headquarters of one of chicago’s oldest...

a matching set of original richly colored stained interior residential stained glass windows - salvaged from the palmer v. kellogg mansion (burnham and root, 1883) during the depression - joined the bldg. 51 museum collection earlier this week. the two high victorian windows - featuring several jewels, swag, fruit baskets, foliated scrollwork, and fired enameled glass (confined to the fruit...

i've had the privilege to carefully pour over and digitize several original kodachrome slides - documenting the death of dankmar adler and louis sullivan buildings - taken at the height of urban renewal and/or slum clearance by chicago photographer richard nickel in the 1960's. when time permits, i will expound upon the scope of this remarkable collection along with adding...

five distinct, historically important pieces of ornament, salvaged from buildings no longer with us, or senselessly altered. the following captions identify the ornament. the images were shot with the aid of natural light. only one image captures the object in its entirety while the others focus on design characteristic. louis frank house cast plaster ceiling medallion detail. the escutcheon was...

two early 20th century chicago two-flats were issued demolition permits on march 6th. the buildings are located at 1346 and 1350 north claremont avenue respectively. the green fence has not been erected, nor has the wrecker delivered their excavators, but within the next week or two both structures will be reduced to rubble.   1346 n. claremont avenue:   1350 n...

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 35,500 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective urban remains website categories.

burnham, root, and atwoood's reliance building (1890-1895) as it looked in 1987. the mood of this tired building (since restored) is overpowering, so i chose to intervene as little as possible. the kodachrome slides were taken by john vinci. i wish i could've spent a few weeks inside documenting the layers of time when it looked this way. i like...

work has begun on village theater (built as the germania in 1916). concealing the facade by stacking three 53' foot containers is interesting. the auditorium will be demolished, but the facade will remain intact. will have to keep a close on eye on this one.

2018 looks to be a very promising year in terms of ephemera, book, and artifact acquisition -  based upon what the bldg. 51 museum archive has already secured, along with arrangements in the works or nearing finalization. the ever-growing museum archive has reached a critical mass, where a publicly accessibly venue is necessary to properly display and/or exhibit chicago-based 19th...

  i finally had a chance to leave my shop and shoot architectural ornament this afternoon. while driving around old town i recalled a demo permit issued for a structure on orchard. i had to triple-check the address (2252 n. orchard) when i pulled up... how many times have i said the same things and shared the same photos?  again...

a green fence was wrapped around a southside chicago comed substation named the gaitan building (1924) - located at 6141 s. prairie ave a few days ago.   this is yet another building from the chicago landmarks historic survey that may be wiped from memory.  i was ill-equipped, but did my best to shoot the building, including detailed images of...

chicago stock exchange trading room blueprint, 1977. i've spent the last several months digitizing hundreds of kodachrome slides taken by john vinci beginning in the late 1950's and ending in 1990's when he retired his hasselblad 500c camera (kodachrome film was discontinued in 2002). together with richard nickel - and later on his own after nickel lost his life saving...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago the last series of images chronicling the demolition of clarence hatzfeld's south side masonic temple (1921). south entrance partially covered in snow. machines at rest after chicago snowstorm. wide angle (distorted) view looking southwest. massive riveted-joint steel truss, severed with a torch left standing between the arms of a machine that will crush...