![Salvation Army Centennial Memorial Temple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Salvation_Army_Centennial_Memorial_Temple.jpg)
Ralph Thomas Walker
FAIA
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...
(November 28, 1889 – January 17, 1973) was an American architect, president of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
and partner of the firm
McKenzie, Voorhees, Gmelin; and its successor firms Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker, Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith; Voorhees, Walker, Smith & Smith; and Voorhees, Walker, Smith, Smith & Haines.
["Questionnaire for Architects' Roster and/or Register of Architects Qualified for Federal Works"]
(September 26, 1946) Walker is best known for his designs for the
Barclay–Vesey Building
The Barclay–Vesey Building (also known as 100 Barclay, the Verizon Building, and formerly the New York Telephone Company Building) is an office and residential building at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The 32-sto ...
(1922–26) and
1 Wall Street (1928–31), but was also involved in numerous other Art Deco telecommunications buildings in the New York City area.
Walker was called "The only other honest architect in America" by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
,
[Cohen, Julie (writer & producer) (2014). ''Treasures of New York: Ralph Walker'' (TV program) WLIW] and "Architect of the Century" by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' when he received the
Centennial Medal of Honor from the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
. His
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
designs have been called "bold, spectacularly dynamic", "radical", "distinctive", "theatrical ... very dramatic", "syncopated and jazzy".
Early life and career
Walker was born on November 28, 1889 in
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...
and was raised in Connecticut and
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
by a working-class family: his father was a construction worker, and he received his love of the arts from his mother, who exposed him to theatre, where he saw
operettas and other light entertainment.
He attended
Classical High School
Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a public magnet school in the Providence School District, in Providence, Rhode Island. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is ''Certare, Petere, Reperire, ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
.
In 1907, at the age of 18, Walker was apprenticed to Providence architect
Howard K. Hilton. The three-year apprenticeship paid one dollar a week for the first year, two a week for the second year and three a week for the third. While working there Walker attended classes at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. After two years had moved up to a design position, paying nine dollars a week.
[ He left during his final semester before graduating, and, in 1913, married Stella Forbes, of Providence. He was a Rotch Traveling Scholar in 1916.][
Walker practiced in various offices in ]Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, and New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, "in charge of planning and design of churches, monumental buildings, universities and commercial buildings."[
]
Military service
In World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Walker served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
of the American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
as a second lieutenant in the Camouflage Section, from 1917 to 1918,[ as did many other artists, sculptors and architects.]
Career
In 1919, at age 30, after his return from Europe for his military service, Walker was offered a junior design position with McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin
HLW is a design, architecture and planning firm headquartered in New York, NY, with offices in Madison, NJ, Los Angeles, CA, Stamford, CT, London and Shanghai. HLW is one of the oldest design firms in the United States, tracing its beginnings to ...
, a New York firm
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
that was the successor firm to the one begun by Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz
Cyrus Lazelle Warner Eidlitz (July 27, 1853 – October 5, 1921) was an American architect best known for designing One Times Square, the former New York Times Building on Times Square. He is founder of the architecture firm presently known as ...
. Walker was to remain there for the remainder of his career.
Skyscraper design was to be the focus of Walker's career, and he was to be influential in determining what they would should look like. He said of it:
The skyscraper is the only means of living in this age of machine. It is an expression and reflection of the age.
And of the designer of these buildings:
The architect of the future will have to be a psychologist, because it is as important for the architect to design a building for man to be mentally comfortable in as it is for him to design one in which he will be physically comfortable.
In his first few years with the firm, Walker used his Beaux-Arts training to provide support for the firm's ongoing commissions for projects like the Brooklyn Municipal Building, completed in 1924, and the Brooklyn Edison Company Building, completed in 1923.
With his design for the Barclay-Vesey Building
The Verizon Building (also known as 100 Barclay, the Barclay–Vesey Building, and the New York Telephone Company Building) is an office and residential building at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The 32-story building was ...
(1922–1926), commissioned by New York Telephone
The New York Telephone Company (NYTel) was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.
Predecessor companies
The Telephone Company of New York was formed under franchise in 1876. The princi ...
in 1921, Walker became a lead designer and took McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin in a new direction. The Barclay-Vesey Building is credited as being the first skyscraper to use the New York 1916 Zoning Resolution as a design asset. Inspired in part by Hugh Ferriss
Hugh Macomber Ferriss (July 12, 1889 – January 28, 1962) was an American architect, illustrator, and poet. He was associated with exploring the psychological condition of modern urban life, a common cultural enquiry of the first decades of ...
's theoretical drawings exhibited in 1922, Walker created a massive asymmetrical tower set back from its base. The design led the way for a generation of skyscrapers built using the set-back principle. It has also been described as the first Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
skyscraper because of its inventive ornament surrounding doorways and windows and elevator foyers. As a result of the success of the design, Walker made partner in the firm and its name was changed to Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker in 1926. Befitting his success, Walker moved to the suburbs of New York, to Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
.
After the completion of the Barclay-Vesey Building, Walker designed several other buildings using its combination of asymmetrical setbacks and towers with Art Deco ornament, including the Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
Headquarters (1929–30) on West 14th Street, the Irving Trust
Irving Trust was an American Commercial bank headquartered in New York City that operated between 1851 and 1988 when it was acquired by Bank of New York. From 1965 the bank was the principal subsidiary of the Irving Bank Corporation.
Between 1913 ...
Bank at 1 Wall Street (1928–31), and several other telephone buildings throughout New York City and the state, including those in Syracuse and Rochester as well as the New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building
The New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building is located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1929 by the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Septemb ...
.
During the 1930s as Art Deco waned, Walker was deeply involved with the planning of the 1933 Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
Exposition in Chicago and in the 1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
.
Walker was an active member of the American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
(AIA) and became its president in 1949.[ During his two-year presidency he was instrumental in establishing the AIA's College of Fellows which gained approval in 1952. In 1957, on the occasion of the AIA's 100th anniversary, the AIA recognized Walker's extraordinary service to the profession by creating a special award for him, the AIA Centennial Medal of Honor (Gold Medal). The headline of '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporting the award dubbed Walker the "Architect of the Century." To commemorate the event, Walker also wrote and published an autobiography.
Walker retired from Voorhees, Walker, Foley, Smith & Smith in 1959 but remained active within the profession. Prior to his death, however, he destroyed his AIA award.
Walker killed himself in January 1973, using a silver bullet that he had forged himself.
The ''Ralph T. Walker Papers'', his Nachlass
''Nachlass'' (, older spelling ''Nachlaß'') is a German word, used in academia to describe the collection of manuscripts, notes, correspondence, and so on left behind when a scholar dies. The word is a compound in German: ''nach'' means "after ...
are preserved at the Special Collections Research Center of the Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
Libraries. They contain correspondence, articles, manuscript essays, speeches, notes and notebooks as well as photographs, project files, sketches, clippings, and scrapbooks.
Controversy
In 1960, Walker resigned from the AIA after a conflict over professional ethics. The AIA accused a member of Walker's firm of acting in an "unprofessional manner" by taking a contract that already belonged to another firm. Walker was devastated by the controversy and self-published a booklet defending his reputation—and including much of the correspondence surrounding the incident – which he sent to all members of the College of Fellows. He ended the essay with:
May I say, finally, that I have no illusions of grandeur; quite to the contrary, I am very humble in my knowledge that through forty years of my life my life has been an open book of service to my fellow architects and for the public good. When I sever my connections with the A.I.A. I do so with my own self respect, as a matter of pride and I am sure within your knowledge of my character. I completely scorn the falsifying, the sanctimonious, the cheap and the shoddy.
Walker was reinstated to the AIA in 1965.
Other organizations
Walker belonged to several other organizations. He was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...
, serving from 1959 to 1963; he was a trustee of the Lavanburg Foundation, Vice President of the Citizen's Housing & Planning Council of New York, and a member of the Housing Committee, and Chairman of the Planning Committee of New Castle, New York
New Castle is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 18,311 in the 2020 United States census, an increase over 17,569 at the 2010 census. It includes the hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood.
History
New Castle ...
. In addition, he was a president of the Architectural League of New York
The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines".
The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...
, president of the Municipal American Society, New York City, and a member of the American Institute of Planners
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
, the American Society of Planning Officials, and the National Association of Housing Officials.[
]
Selected designs
(all in New York City unless otherwise indicated)
* The New York Telephone Company Building, aka the Barclay-Vesey Building and now the Verizon Building
The Verizon Building (also known as 100 Barclay, the Barclay–Vesey Building, and the New York Telephone Company Building) is an office and residential building at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The 32-story building was ...
(1922–26); damaged in the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
and later partially converted to residential condos
* Western Union Building, now 60 Hudson Street
60 Hudson Street, formerly known as the Western Union Building, is a 24-story telecommunications building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1928–1930, it was one of several Art Deco-style buildings design ...
(1928–1930)
* Irving Trust Building, now One Wall Street
1 Wall Street (also known as the Irving Trust Company Building, the Bank of New York Building, and the BNY Mellon Building) is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, on the eastern side of Broadway between W ...
(1928–1931)
* New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building
The New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building is located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1929 by the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Septemb ...
, Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
(1929)
* Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
Headquarters, New York, NY (1929–1930)
* New York Telephone Company Long Island Headquarters, 105 Willoughby Street (1929–1930), Brooklyn, NY, now converted to the BellTel Lofts (2006)
* Verizon Building (c. 1930s), 212 West 18th Street, in 2012 converted to residential condominiums under the name "Walker Tower."
* New York Telephone Building, 425 West 50th Street, (1930) in 2013 converted to residential condominiums under the name "Stella Tower," named for Walker's wife.
* Times Square Building
The Times Square Building, formerly the Times Building, is a registered landmark building in Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 1916 and housed editorial operations of the '' Seattle Times'' newspaper, which was housed there until 1930. Loc ...
, Rochester, New York (1930)
* AT&T Long Distance Building, 32 Sixth Avenue (1930–1932)
* AT&T Pavilion, General Electric Pavilion, Borden Pavilion, Petroleum Pavilion, New York World's Fair (1939)
* Charles Hayden Memorial Library, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1946–1951)
References
Notes
Sources
*
External links
"Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Ralph Thomas
20th-century American architects
1889 births
1973 deaths
Art Deco architects
Architects from Waterbury, Connecticut
Architects from New York City
Architects from Providence, Rhode Island
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Military personnel from Connecticut
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Presidents of the American Institute of Architects
Classical High School alumni
1973 suicides
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal