Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

i'm posting a few images of my personal collection... my interests are constantly evolving as i continually explore the vast  and varied "artifact universe", where many sub-collections have spawned from. as the collection grows, i've decided it is time to begin documenting these artifacts in the form of a series of catalogs, with the first due out in late april/early...

revisited the mecca exhibit (located at the cultural center) with a reporter i have since befriended. the timing was perfect. to our great surprise, we crossed paths with tim samuelson - the show's curator and chicago's cultural historian. we were kindly invited to spend an afternoon with tim in his office, conversing about all matters sullivan - including a an...

if my light source went dark, i would be in world of trouble. with a respirator, layer upon layer of clothing, clunky steel toe boots, tool belt and a headband flashlight, i began walking across this vast crawl space filled with criss-crossing structural iron trusses and a sea of incredibly dark and dusty plaster strung up by hundreds of steel...

one of the fundamental steps in accident prevention in a factory setting is warning the workmen of the presence of danger. during the late 19th and early 20th century, this proved challenging because of the great variety of languages spoken. in the iron and steel industry alone, over twenty-one languages and many dialects were spoken, each by large numbers of...

i really wanted these prints! very disappointed. i thought for sure i would secure them at the low estimate. however, there just comes a point when you have to step down - they were more "sub-collection" material... at the end of the day, i collect artifacts, not photography, but they would have certainly been a nice addition to my mazda light...

the highly anticipated bldg. 51 museum artifact catalog will be available for sale - both online and in stores by late spring. the limited edition (print quantity of 500) catalog is divided into three major sections, consisting of artifacts from notable building commissions by architect frank lloyd wright, louis h. sullivan, and chicago area buildings chosen both on artistic merit...

hopefully within the next week or two, we will be removing the staircase and massive chandelier from the south side chicago jeffery theater lobby. in addition to myself and job site staff, we will have a reporter, photographer and a film crew planted there to document the removal of the artifacts. the focal point of course, will be the chandelier...

we managed to secure a total of four matching historically important oversized exterior ornamental cast iron single electric light sconces salvaged from the original wrigley jr. company's chewing gum factory, located at 35th and ashland avenue. as of early 2014, the factory complex continues to fall to the wrecking ball. the exceptional sconces were likely executed by the winslow brothers...

with camera gear and tripods in hand and around my shoulders, i entered the chicago athletic association building for another highly anticipated afternoon spent photodocumenting the chicago athletic association building and annex - known as the "michigan building" and "madison building" respectively. after arranging my camera equipment, throwing on the hard hat and drowning out the obnoxious construction noise around...

new york city subway incandescent light fixtures... there isn't a substantial amount of information (readily available, that is) about their design and/or use in the subway stations dotting the underground manhattan landscape. early 20th century periodicals or trade journals provide some, albeit scant, details pertaining to the lighting employed. over and over i stumble upon vague descriptions alluding to "bronze...

this diminutive early american industrial iron and steel contraption - identified simply as an "adjustable supporter" or knuckle joint, was patented by otis c. white (a dental surgeon from hopkinton, massachusetts) in 1893 for use with electric lamps or lighting, that over time, would gain widespread use in factory and/or various commercial settings throughout the country. the "lamp supporter" or compound swiveling...

photographic composition of "sullivanesque" by eric j. nordstrom  

rare to find a large quantity (over 200 available) of all original (not the reproductions) american industrial galvanized steel locker room storage baskets designed and fabricated by the lyon metallic mfg. co., aurora, il. the locker baskets acquired in recent weeks, are comprised largely of wire mesh with perforated sheet metal back and front panels. the school locker baskets retain...

urban remains spent a good portion of 2009 carefully extracting artifacts from the jarvis hunt-designed lake shore drive athletic club for future use and/or reintegration into the building once it was converted to apartments. that time has come. see below, in article and images.  Once threatened with demolition, the 19-story building from 1927 will now have units ranging from $1,900...

the images below depict a rare, joseph f. l. uhl-designed chair patented in 1902 (considered a precursor to the slightly modified "perfection" chair) and manufactured by the uhl brothers company, toledo, oh. this early prototype was advertised as a new and useful improvement in the construction of metal furniture (at the time, twisted metal furniture was mostly predominant during the...

built on the site of the first brick building in chicago (1837), the 13 story steel frame chicago stock exchange building was designed by the architectural firm of adler and sullivan with falkenau & company as general contractors. the building was completed in 1894 at a total cost of $1,131,555.16. the stock exchange contained 13 stories with the single basement...

Chicago Cultural Center  >  Exhibitions  >  Monthly Schedule  >  Wright Before the "Lloyd" Mention the name Frank Lloyd Wright, and modern architecture immediately comes to everyone’s mind.  But as a young Chicago architect of the 1890s, signing his work with a less dramatic “Frank L. Wright” his early work included many and diverse influences – some of which look back to classical antiquity...

nothing terribly special (i.e., have been made time and again), but the copper fitters are rather delightful. the fixture, although repurposed, contains two original copper socket housings/fitters manufactured by benjamin electric of chicago. they are incredibly popular now, and i'm sure have been knocked off by rejuvenation or restoration hardware. the fitters and globes on this fixture date to the...

earlier this week i visited a chicago landmark building that was undergoing interior renovation - presumably for conversion into yet another "boutique" hotel. the preservationists appointed by the city were there to recommend what should be left intact in order to preserve what remained of the building's interior historic integrity - despite a remodeling in the 1940's, where all bronze...

urban remains cabinetry featured in... We Can't Get Enough: Vintage Industrial Cabinets By Rachel Amy Shahvar Used by printers, mechanics, secretaries, doctors and goodness knows who else, utilitarian wood and metal cabinets from the past century are becoming beloved collectors items. Their combination of industrial aesthetic, practicality, and a touch of whimsy (90 cabinets!), make them some of our favorite vintage pieces...