Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

the following images were taken shortly before the richard nickel exhibit closed in the spring of 2023.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.

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 17 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JULY, 2023, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and...

a year later... granite and concrete: parts and pieces of chicago's demolished buildings landed at lake delton during depression. images of salvaged ornament from boyington's board of trade building (1885-1929) and wright's midway gardens (1914-1929) located at an old chicago wrecker's summer cottage (dawn manor) in the dells. during the late 19th and early 20th century, william j. newman's excavation...

solon s. spencer's richardsonian romanesque style 4-story bedford limestone bank building (1888) was built for  gysbert van steenwyk, a dutch native who settled in la crosse after immigrating to milwaukee. a major remodeling in 1927 moved the entry from the center of the building to the east side and the first floor was further altered by the replacement of the...

joseph lyman Silsbee was commissioned by frank lloyd wright’s uncle, jenkin lloyd jones, to design unity chapel in spring green, wisconsin. wright assisted with the design of the small shingle chapel, completed in 1886.   images of the wood-framed shingle style chapel, incised stone gate posts and surrounding graveyard are posted below.    images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and...

photographic survey of the 1884 american house hotel (converted to commutator foundry in 1910), located at 125 1st street north, minneapolis, mn. i've been documenting this building since 1999, when it was mostly abandoned, neglected, and falling to pieces (the worst of it was in the rear shed). the nicely worn and weathered facade, with it's ghostly foundry signs and...

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in the month of june 2023. captions will be provided when time permits.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.

exterior images of kees and colburn's 9-story deere and webber company warehouse (1910), located at 800 n. washington avenue, minneapolis, mn. the cream-colored speckled finish sullivanesque terra cotta was fabricated by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.

interior and exterior images of george maher’s egyptian revival winona savings bank building (1916), located at 204 main street, winona, mn. the granite bank building was built between 1914-16 by the haglin-stahr company, located in minneapolis, mn. tiffany executed the maher-designed art glass windows and ornamental bronze work. exterior: interior: courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive...

2023 photographic survey of kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style 10-story grain exchange building, located at 400 s. 4th St, minneapolis, mn. the minneapolis grain exchange building was constructed between 1900 and 1902 by minneapolis architectural firm of kees and colburn. the buff-colored terra cotta ornament was heavily influenced by louis sullivan’s commercial buildings of the late 19th and early 20th...

photographic survey of harvey ellis's richardsonian romanesque style pillsbury hall (leroy buffington, 1887) located on the university of minnesota's historic campus district. the building’s exterior is comprised of buff-colored sandstone quarried from pine, mn., and a red sandstone found in northwestern minnesota. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023. 

a little less than a week ago i had the opportunity to visit the american terra cotta company museum - located in crystal lake, ills. i was rather impressed with the exhibits, including the carefully curated selection of terra cotta ornament that the factory produced beginning in 1881.  for more information please visit: https://cl-hs.org/local-history/businesses/american-terra-cotta/ images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom...

the exterior buff-colored ornamental terra cotta ornament on the flemish renaissance revival-styled frederick mansion (george ferry, architect, 1892) is in need of serious repair (see images below). restoration of the adjoining 1893 world's fair pabst beer pavilion (designed by architect otto strack, who also designed the extant pabst theater), is underway, with the boston terra cotta company replicating and replacing...

memorial day tour of notable late 19th and early 20th century architects bured in graceland cemetery. the highly informative talk and walk was led by timothy j. samuelson, cultural historian emeritus of chicago. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom. all rights reserved. 2023. 

most recent architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum collection and archive in late spring/early summer of 2023. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023

photographic images of walter burley griffin's 1911 william f. tempel house (interior and exterior remodeled in 1918 by barry bryne and alfonso iannelli) from its beginning to end - and what replaced it. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, the bldg. 51 archive, and urban remains llc. all rights reserved. 2023. 

New exhibit highlights Wright and mentor From the Things to do in and around Racine County series   RACINE — “Wright Before the ‘Lloyd,’” a new exhibit at the Racine Heritage Museum, 701 Main St., is now open. It highlights the young Frank L. Wright and his friend Cecil Sherman Corwin, the forgotten architect and mentor who did much to shape him...

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. note: same approach was applied towards documenting architectural ornament in the following cities (see...

latest detailed images of louis h. sullivan's purdue national bank building (1914), located at 10 west state street in west lafayette, indiana. the richly colored polychromed glazed terra was designed by louis h. sullivan, modeled by kristian schneider, and executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. with exception to the entrance (plugged with an atm machine), modification of...

latest arrivals and arrangements below: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains llc, and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.