Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century

The first book dedicated to the career of one of New York’s most successful and prolific yet forgotten architects. Ralph Walker shaped New York’s skyline during the Roaring Twenties, from the iconic Barclay-Vesey Telephone Building at 140 West Street to the luxurious Irving Trust bank tower at 1 Wall Street in the heart of the city’s financial district. Walker was a master of modern ornament, using his skills as a designer to “humanize” the skyscraper and the city itself. In 1957, a New York Times headline proclaimed Walker “architect of the century,” an honor bestowed by his fellow architects celebrating his “brilliance” as a philosopher and a humanitarian. Walker shaped the Chicago and New York World’s Fairs of the 1930s and became an outspoken advocate for his vision of a humane American city. Across the fifty years of his practice, Walker remained dedicated to defining a modern architecture from the dramatic towers of the dense city to the serene landscapes of the suburbs. Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century is the first monograph to present this forgotten vision of twentieth-century architecture.