History has lost its grip on many aspects of American culture. It means less and less each day, as people emigrate and migrate and mix, making a fabulous stew. But history makes Valerio Dewalt Train a Chicago architectural firm. Joe Valerio was born and raised in the Rogers Park neighborhood. He left to study, staying on in Los Angeles to join Chrysalis Corporation, a multi-disciplinary group of architects, artists, and scientists, completing a number of adventurous projects including the inner theater at the Pepsi-Cola Pavillion at Expo 70 in Osaka. Later he taught at the University of Wisconsin, continuing to practice as COW, Chrysalis of Wisconsin. In 1985, he returned home, working for A. Epstein and Sons for two years as Vice President of Architecture. In 1988, Mr. Valerio founded Valerio Associates. Mark Dewalt grew up in the Chicago area and attended the University of Illinois. After completing his studies, he joined the firm of Metz Train Youngren. It was there that he met Jack Train and together they founded Jack Train Associates in 1982. The firm grew based on a commitment to state of the art computer graphics and a solid reputation of performance, with a specialty in complicated renovation projects such as the Merchandise Mart. Jack Train, a native of Chicago, has been a major figure in Chicago architecture for many years. When interviewed in 1995 for an addition to the Shedd Aquarium, he joked that he had been on the short list for the original building, completed in 1935. Mr. Train's career included a partnership at Skidmore Owings & Merrill where he played a major role in the completion of many of their seminal projects of the 1950's and early 60's. In 1966 he founded Metz Train and Youngren. In 1994, Valerio Associates and Train Dewalt Associates merged to form the descendent firm. Valerio Dewalt Train is headquartered in Chicago. But it is a Chicago architectural firm due less to its location and more to "Chicago" as an idea, an approach which should marry innovation in design, technology and management in pursuit of "the difficult whole."