In the late 1920s, at the height of American Art Deco, the New York architect Ralph Walker (1889-1973) began to craft a polemical theory of modern design. His theory, based in the “New Humanism” occupying American literary and philosophical circles during the roaring twenties, proposed a new way of thinking about the making of buildings, and par…[Read more]

Gathered in this special issue of Studies in the Decorative Arts are four articles that deal in different ways with the same thesis: that textiles and theories of textile design have a vital place in modern architecture and design. Ranging from the literal incorporation of textiles—curtains, pillowcases, blankets, rugs—into architectural ens…[Read more]