Alschuler, Alfred S. (Alfred Samuel), 1876-1940
Biography
Alfred S. Alschuler (1876 - 1940) was a Chicago-born architect who studied at the Art Institute and Armour Institute of Technology, receiving a B. A. in Architecture from AIT in 1899 and an honorary M. A. in 1904. Alschuler served as a member of the Armour Alumni Association and the Board of Trustees. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Illinois Institute of Technology Board of Trustees. Alschuler founded the architectural firm of Alschuler, Friedman and Sincere early in his professional career. He was the first architect in Chicago to use reinforced concrete when he built a department store at 12th and Halsted Sts. in 1900. He also set 17 feet as the unit dimension for offices, a figure which by 1958 had become the industry standard. Alschuler's son, Alfred S. Alschuler, Jr. (1911 - 2002), studied architecture at Harvard and MIT before returning to Chicago where he worked in his father's architectural firm and the successor firm, Friedman, Alschuler and Sincere which was formed after Alschuler, Sr.'s death. Alschuler, Jr. reportedly worked with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and was involved with buildings built on the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology.