Ralph Walker

Kathryn E. Holliday (architectural history and theory, U. of Texas-Arlington) is Director of the David Dillon Center for Texas Architecture. She has written the first book on the career of Ralph Walker, one of the most influential architects of the 1930s, whose work strongly contributed to the development of the New York skyline and the American popular imagination of what cities should look like. He was a major figure in the design of the Chicago and New York World's Fairs. The book is gorgeously produced on heavy toothed paper, and lavishly illustrated in black and white with some color. Many of the illustrations are architects' drawings. The careful choice of drawings, as much as the text, shows how Walker's buildings and his visual style have influenced us on two fronts: the literal vision of what tall buildings (and 1930s cities) look like, and our cultural vision of what it means to be modern. Holliday describes each of Walker's major buildings in depth. Work by artists associated with Walker, such as Hildreth Miere, is also shown. Holliday's writing is knowledgeable about history and architecture and thoughtful about cultural aesthetics (of One Wall Street: "The mural, now lost, was titled 'The Only Reason For Wealth Is The Attainment Of Beauty.'") Of interest to readers of architecture, modernism, the history of the era, World's Fairs, or the history of New York City, and to readers who love architectural drawings. Oversize: 10x12 ". Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kathryn E. Holliday teaches architectural history and theory at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she is the director of the David Dillon Center for Texas Architecture. Her previous book is the award-winning Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age.