"I stay here because I love my little hometown, " the man with the potbelly said.

CNN: The county where no one's gay

And as the Pritzkers and so many others here can attest, if you love architecture there are few better places to live than in my hometown of Chicago. (Applause.) It is the birthplace of the skyscraper -- a city filled with buildings and public spaces designed by architects like Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry, who is here tonight.

WHITEHOUSE: The Pritzker Architecture Prize