Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century

By Kathryn E. Holliday ’91. Rizzoli New York, 2012. The first monograph to chronicle the innovative vision of Walker, named “architect of the century” by the New York Times in 1957. Called “the only other honest architect in America” by Frank Lloyd Wright, Walker shaped New York’s skyline during the 1920s, from the iconic Barclay-Vesey Telephone Building at 140 West Street to the luxurious Irving Trust Building in the heart of the city’s financial district. Walker was a master of modern ornament, using his skill as a designer to “humanize” the skyscraper and the city itself.