By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005
“Chicago architecture is like fishing,” observed Bill Cordier. “Up in northern Michigan, near my family’s cabin, everybody talks about fishing. Walk into a bar and one of the first things you’ll hear is, ‘How’re they biting?’ But in this city, everyone talks about architecture. Chicagoans, people on the street, out-of-towners, and even cabbies. They’re curious about our famous buildings. And they often ask about what tours they should take to see them.”
Bill is happy to tell them. As a VEV (visitor experience volunteer) at the ticket desk in the CAF store, he’s one of the first people to meet our tourees. “I enjoy interacting with the public because I get to share my enthusiasm with them about what they’re about to see.”
A Chicagoan since 2008 and VEV since 2011, Bill is originally from Detroit. While still a child, he relocated with his family to Fairfield, Connectucut and New Vernon, New Jersey, near New York City, and then to Hudson, Ohio. He graduated with a BA in East-Asian Studies and a minor in art history from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
Singapore
In the 1990s he moved to Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, China, where, for two years, he taught English-as-a-second-language at Hunan National University. After some intrepid travel around the region, he relocated to the island nation of Singapore to work for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s engineered products division. He became Goodyear’s Asia-Pacific Export Marketing Manager, overseeing the distribution of engineered products to customers throughout East and Southeast Asia.
Bill liked the travel, and the architectural styles he saw in Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, and China. “I was impressed not only by the ubiquitous stupas, temples, and pagodas, but by the ingenuity of the region’s architecture. If you ever plan to visit Singapore, you’ll see good examples of vernacular architecture, such as the five-foot-way shophouses and the black-and-white villas,” he said.
How to Shoot Buildings
When not volunteering at CAF, Bill often can be seen stalking the wily skyscraper with a camera. He is an avid photographer of buildings and architectural styles. He employs a medium-format digital camera, not a smart phone. He explained, “I have more control with this camera because I can swap out lenses and dial in my own settings. On the other hand, today’s smart phones take very good photos, are easier to carry, and are more discrete than a traditional setup.”
In Michigan, Bill talks fishing. In Chicago, he talks architecture. “It’s like fishing,” concluded Bill. “And I’m happy to help tourees find the best spots to catch sights of our famous buildings.”