Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Nordstrom.
Eric, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
For 10 years Urban Remains has dealt exclusively in the reclamation of American architectural artifacts, antiques, and other oddities found among industrial buildings, and commercial or residential structures. The website displays well over 10,000 recovered artifacts, dating from the mid-19th century to the late 1960’s. We do not deal in any new or reproduction materials, and the majority of pieces are directly salvaged at demolition sites within Chicago. New items are added to the website daily, reflecting everything that is available to the public in our West Town warehouse.
As a virtual resource, the Urban Remains website overlaps with the Bldg. 51 archive in showcasing artifacts that are part of Eric Nordstrom’s personal collection (located in Streeterville). The Bldg. 51 Museum is comprised of historically important elements from notable Chicago buildings. Categorical emphasis is on theaters or movie palaces, as well as artifacts from Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan-designed buildings. More recently bldg. 51 has expanded to include non-Chicago artifacts, encompassing a wider breadth of urban industrial history. Visit the Bldg. 51 website to view these “Reference only” artifacts and access an archive of information on mid-19th century construction methods.
Has it been a smooth road?
Struggle = everyday – both to body and mind. The work is unforgiving.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
One night many months ago, I was rummaging through old documents and happened to stumble across a book – a book from my previous life. It was my thesis from graduate school, a tightly bound distillation of my years of work in the department of pharmacology at the University of Minnesota when I was doing science.
An idea caught: Perhaps I could translate the work I’ve accomplished thus far, the years of work as a glorified junkologist, into a similar format.
Even as a grad student, every chance I got I was also salvaging buildings, collecting artifacts and photographing these remains. This catalog of objects is a representation, a “freeze frame” in time of my burgeoning collection as it exists under the BLDG. 51 museum and gallery in Chicago.
It is curated from several thousand photographs of artifacts I have rescued over the years, many from Chicago buildings about to die or mere days from a wrecking ball.
Although the core of the collection remains constant, it is dynamic. Alive. Several pieces may come and go as my interests shift over time, and the grouping of objects and artifacts is often broken apart and rearranged in multi sub-collections.
The focus of this particular collection centers on architectural building elements comprised of diverse materials, including, but not limited to, art glass, cast iron, terra cotta and woodwork. The highlights are fourfold: a variety of objects pertaining to my two favorite architects, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis H. Sullivan, along with artifacts from notable Chicago theaters or movie palaces, and finally, commercial and residential buildings.
I really do not find a need to prattle on about the “art” of collecting, nor is it really necessary. The assemblage of images will speak for themselves. At the end of the day, I’m just the caretaker.
But I am proud of my collection and I feel the need to share it with others. I could spend hours, if not days, pouring over other people’s collections, but unfortunately, that just isn’t realistic. On occasion, I have had the opportunity to visit a fellow collector’s home. It is a chance to admire and actively discuss what they have in their possession, stories of acquisition, what we like most, and ultimately, where our collections will end up when we are gone. The camaraderie is certainly fulfilling.
Yet there are so many others out there who I will not get to share that with. For one reason or another, their collections are, in a sense, hidden. From time to time, bits and pieces surface or collections arranged in an auction format appear at auction. But experiencing a collection as a whole, in situ, especially as it was intended or is currently displayed and in the environment created through the mind’s eye of the collector, this is rare and a deeply moving experience.
By offering a catalog of my collection, accessible to any and all with similar interests, I hope to encourage others to do the same. To take the time to document their collection and make it available for us to see and appreciate.
There will no doubt be more salvages and opportunities to rescue and acquire artifacts ahead for me and these excursions will bolster the collection. I might come across a “tree of life” window in the next year or several items of equal historic significance. You never know. Shortly before I wrote this introduction, I acquired a Guaranty building ceiling medallion that was quickly added to this catalog before it went off to the printers. This then, is the first of more editions to follow. The city of Chicago is a very big place with quite a few buildings that change with time. Whether by demolition or alteration, pieces of ornament will be removed. I hope to be there, for as long as I remain in this business, to collect and care for them.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy living in it.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes. Yes. A bit of history is lost nearly every day when a structure is demolished.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1850 w grand ave
- Phone: 3124926254
- Email: staff@urbanremainschicago.com
- Instagram: urban remains
- Facebook: urban remains
- Twitter: urban remains
- Yelp: urban remains
- Other: urban remains
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
