Blog

By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005

 One of CAC’s newest docents, Bob Pratt, has been educating us with postings about Walter Ahlschlager in The Bridge.  In the second of his two-part article about the architect, Bob told “the rest of the story” in the spirit of radio personality Paul Harvey, whose stories focused on little-known or forgotten facts.  “Recently, I was in Cincinnati and toured a beautiful Art Deco building called the Carew Tower,” says Bob.  “The plaque in the lobby said that it was designed by ‘well-known Chicago architect Walter Ahlschlager’.  Which got me to researching and writing about his other buildings in addition to the one we’re all familiar with, the Medinah Athletic Club, now the Intercontinental Hotel, on Michigan Avenue.

“I’ve always been interested in architecture and urban planning and design,” he continues.  “I took several college courses in urban history and planning.  In 1971, I created an independent study project for the summer to earn course credit. My resulting paper was entitled “A Survey of Twentieth Century Urban Architecture in America.” In addition to a lot of research, it required a circle trip from my home in Ohio to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York, and a separate trip to Chicago.  Topics covered included everything from Le Corbusier’s influence on air-rights developments in the U.S. to an overview of U.S. architecture history and its major players, to individual building critiques in each of the four cities covered.”

Practiced Law

Bob wrote his survey paper while he was at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he earned an AB degree in political science.  He followed with a JD degree in law at Yale Law School.  “I moved to Chicago immediately after law school, and practiced law for 43 years,” he says.  “A little more than the first half of my career was in private practice with a large law firm, where I concentrated on antitrust law.  I was involved in merger and conduct matters that involved a diverse array of industries, including those focused on uranium, hospitals, theatrical film processing, food distribution, and folding cartons. For the last 19 years, I was in the public sector with the Illinois Attorney General’s office — most of that time as Chief of the Antitrust Bureau.

“When I retired in 2018, it was an easy decision to consider becoming a docent as my primary, initial post-retirement volunteer activity,” says Bob. “What better way to combine a long-time interest with the opportunity to meet people from around the world, to learn much more about a fascinating topic, and to keep in touch with the city?  My background as a lawyer has been useful in the process of becoming a docent.  Architecture, like the law, changes and evolves, so there’s a constant learning process.  Leading tours helps me to expand the ‘iceberg’ of knowledge that underlies every tour.”

The Bovines

Because the CAC had just moved to its new quarters, there was no 2018 class, so Bob initially applied to become an exhibit host, and became a docent in 2019. “When I first interviewed to be an exhibit host, I brought along a copy of my college survey of architecture paper as evidence of my interest, and to show that I had a head-start on the subject matter.

“We were an engaged and hard-working class with esprit de corps,” Bob says.  “In our tour training, a casual online discussion of the bovine medallions on the front of the Chicago Board of Trade developed into something of a group obsession.  So, we named our class ‘The Bovines.’  And we even wear a Bovine pin, designed by the daughter of our fellow Bovine Mark Purdome.”

Bob leads the Historic Treasures and Walk Through Time tours, in addition to serving as an exhibit host.  He says, “My favorite tour is Walk Through Time.  I like the concept of a chronological tour and the built-in theme of the interplay of the story of Chicago’s growth with the story of the advance of architectural technology and design choices.

“I try to take careful note of where my guests are visiting from and then relate what we’re seeing to something they may have seen at home, or just to make connections,” Bob continues. “I was leading an historic tour with some guests from Philadelphia. When we were inside Macy’s, I described the early 1900s competition between Marshall Field’s and the John Wanamaker store of Philadelphia for the title of largest department store in the country. On a Walk Through Time tour, I had a couple from Dayton, Ohio.  While in front of the ABC TV building, I told about Oprah Winfrey’s arrival and ascent in Chicago as the top-rated talk show host replacing Phil Donahue.  I noted that Donahue began his career in Dayton.  And when I’ve had tourees from Germany, I expand a bit on the story of Mies van der Rohe prior to his arrival in Chicago.”

Bob is on the Tour Committee.  He’s been writing for The Bridge. In addition to telling us about the skyscrapers of Paris “exiled” to La Defense, and “the rest of the Ahlschlager story” — he’s prepared a spin-off of the Ahlschlager articles.  It reviews another one of the architect’s Chicago buildings: Uptown Broadway.

We’re Known in Miami

“On a recent trip to Miami, we took the Miami Design Preservation League Tour in the South Beach area,” says Bob.  “The tour was very good—two hours with lots of detail.  I spoke with the docent, who was very aware of CAC and our excellent reputation. In contrast to CAC’s numerous offerings, the MDPL offered only one tour, and I believe it was only once a day. Also, the docent’s acceptance of tips reminded me of how glad I am that we have a firm, no-tipping policy.”

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