Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

being utterly consumed with the john kent russell house salvage (and 1850's chicago for that matter) for several weeks now, i only recently had the chance to get up to speed on other demolition activity happening in the chicago area. last sunday i discovered that the lawndale theater was not only being demolished, but is nearly gone. i was aware...

i didn't have much time to photodocument the chicago athletic association building this afternoon after spending a great deal of time "excavating" the russell house site in the morning, and having to hastily find my way to wicker park to document the recently exposed wood frame building (only a few of these structures remain along milwaukee avenue), where capturing the...

the image depicting the delicate porcelain enameled. multi-paneled wrigley chewing gum factory sign grasped tightly in the "claws" of a wrecker's backhoe did not look to very promising in regards to the sign's fate. weeks later, a portion of the wrigley factory sign was discovered resting against the former guardhouse directly off of ashland avenue. clearly, damage to the porcelain enameled...

rarely does one find an all original and completely intact residential entrance or vestibule door lockset with every component being apart of the short-lived and thus, highly desirable anglo-japanese designed hardware fabricated by the russell  & erwin company, with design patents issued as early as 1879. this recently discovered vestibule door set is unique in that every component is intact...

 

today marked the last day that the john kent russell house remained standing for nearly a century and a half. i'm amazed at all the changes that have occurred to the residence since the initial phases of construction sometime in the 1840's. despite the additions, upgrades and remuddlings, coupled with an ever-changing neighborhood surrounding this modest dwelling, key architectural features...

 

for over 7 hours i systematically documented the slow and painful death of the pre-fire john kent russell house, which in its earliest form may have begun as a frame cottage that dates back to 1845-50 based on newly found evidence. several yellow pine or douglas fir hewn wood structural members were discovered during the demolition of the possibly older...

i spent saturday and sunday photographing the uptown theater facade and its dilapidated horizontal marquee, a "sullivanesque" style building with terra cotta ornament (fabricated by the midland terra cotta company) and finally, a few hours investigating and/or documenting structural components at the russell house.  

the gallery consists of building materials and other odds and ends discovered in the russell house while salvaging the artifacts that are currently available for sale on the urban remains website. a booklet and a weekend architectural artifact exhibit (i.e., containing these objects and more) designed to provide further insight into the building methodologies and materials will likely be launched...

despite numerous trips to photodocument the chicago athletic association building (1893), i never paid much attention to the sleek and streamlined cherry circle bar, located in the building annex (designed by schmidt, garden and martin in 1907). the other week, i poked my head inside the room with the expectation that no changes had taken place since my last visit...

demolition of the historically important pre-fire chicago john kent russell house is now on the horizon. after a very long life, i was very fortunate to document its last days before it is reduced to splintered wood and rubble. we were told it was to be demolished this thursday; however, on our last spirited push to tie up loose ends...

detaching myself from the ongoing (and seemingly never ending) john kent russell salvage in order to revisit and photodocument any and all changes made to the chicago athletic association building, was both refreshing and therapeutic. i managed to devote an entire afternoon (earlier this week) to reacquaint myself with the building and begin photographing the alterations that have taken place since...

the bldg. 51 museum just acquired three magnificent electric light fixtures removed from the extant historic uptown theater designed by rapp and rapp. the lot consists of two matching single light sconces and a ceiling-mount pendant light with original canopy. the fixtures are comprised of finely executed ornamental bronze metal with the original gilded ormolu (i.e.,metallic gold-plated finish) remaining largely...

despite being consumed salvaging the john kent russell house, along with painstakingly documenting the chicago athletic association building, i did manage to make it over to the historic division street bridge (what was left of it) to photograph its final days. by the time i arrived one afternoon, there were large segments of the bridge haphazardly cut apart and scattered...

shortly after a a good friend and i finished a lengthy and rather productive discussion over existing structures from 1850's chicago, i once again prepared for another afternoon at the pre-fire john kent russell house (salvage in progress as of late last week). instead of developing a game plan for salvaging exterior artifacts (e.g., brackets or corbels, etc.), i chose...

urban remains began salvaging the historically important c. 1855 john kent russell house yesterday afternoon. any and all interior architectural components were thoroughly documented and carefully removed. but before i begin what will likely be a series of posts revolving around the salvage of this pre-fire residence, i wanted to present a few images taken while i was exploring the...

 

the winslow brothers foundry (specializing in ornamental iron and bronze work) was founded around 1887 by brothers william and francis winslow. within a very short time thereafter, the winslow brothers would become one of the most accomplished foundries; outfitting numerous notable buildings and residences with skillfully executed metal ornament well into the 20th century. as early as 1881 william winslow was involved...