(b 1889; d 1973). American architect. He was apprenticed for three years before attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (1909–11). In 1916 he was the winner of the Rotch Traveling Scholarship. He joined the office of McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin, New York, in 1919, becoming a partner in 1926 when the firm became Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker. Walker’s works included the Barclay-Vesey Telephone Building (1923–6), the Western Union Building (1928–9) and the Irving Trust Building (1928–31), all skyscrapers in New York in the setback Modernist style later referred to as Art Deco. After 1939 the firm became Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith and produced many large projects including the Bell Telephone Laboratories (1937–49) at Murray Hill, NJ, several buildings for the World’s Fair of 1939 in New York and office, laboratory and research centres for American companies. Walker was prominent in professional circles, received various honours and was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1949 to 1951. After that his reputation declined; while his Art Deco work was acclaimed, his later work was criticized for its somewhat timid Modernism.

• Walker, Ralph (Thomas)
  • New York, §I, 4: History and urban development, c 1920–1945