Alfons Bach Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Bach, Alfons, 1904-1999
label: Names
content: Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company
label: Names
content: Callaway Mills
label: Names
content: Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive
label: Names
content: General Electric Company
label: Names
content: Heywood-Wakefield Company
label: Names
content: Palm Trail Plaza
label: Names
content: Philco Corporation
label: Names
content: Ridgeway Center
label: Names
content: Sach's New York
label: Names
content: Seneca Textile Building
topic: label: Occupation
content: Industrial designers -- United States
label: Occupation
content: Architects -- United States
label: Topic
content: Design, Industrial -- United States
label: Topic
content: Display of merchandise
label: Topic
content: Furniture design -- United States
label: Topic
content: Radio -- Receivers and reception
label: Topic
content: Carpets -- United States
label: Topic
content: Interior decoration -- United States
label: Topic
content: Architecture -- Designs and plans
label: Topic
content: Shopping malls -- United States
label: Topic
content: Watercolor painting -- United States
label: Topic
content: Apartment houses
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Alfons Bach in 1993.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bach, Alfons, 1904-1999
setName: label: See more items in
content: Alfons Bach Papers
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Industrial designer, architect, and painter. Born in Germany, 1904. Bach studied film directing and design in Europe. He turned to industrial design upon immigrating to the United States in 1926. His design work from 1932-1953 include a Philco radio, furniture for Heywood-Wakefield, carpets for Bigelow-Sanford, and appliances for General Electric. Bach designed and built his own home in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1938.

In the late 1940s, he developed a plan for one of the first shopping malls in America, the Ridgeway Center in Stamford, Connecticut. He remodeled the interior and exterior of Sach's furniture store, 1948-1949, and redesigned the Seneca Textile Building on 34th Street in Manhattan in 1952. Bach moved to Florida in 1959, where he designed the Palm Trail Plaza, a marina apartment complex in Delray Beach, completed in 1961. In addition, Bach was also a noted painter. His watercolors were featured in numerous exhibitions in the United States and Europe.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6 Cubic feet (4 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1934-1992
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred to the Archives Center from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in 2012.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1272
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Slides
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Aerial photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Plans
label: Type
content: Proposals
label: Type
content: Exhibition catalogs
label: Type
content: Writings
label: Type
content: Speeches
label: Type
content: Awards
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Certificates
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Collection i s arranged into three series. 

Series 1: Biographical Materials and Project Files, 1934-1989
 
Series 2: Photographs, 1942-1961		
 
Series 3: Lantern slides (glass), undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist and Isaac Meth, Intern, 2022.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Slides
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Aerial Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans
label: Genre/Form
content: Proposals
label: Genre/Form
content: Exhibition catalogs
label: Genre/Form
content: Writings
label: Genre/Form
content: Speeches
label: Genre/Form
content: Awards
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Certificates
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Biographical files cover the period from 1938-1989 and include resumes, clippings, correspondence, certificates, awards, speeches, brochures for exhibitions, and artwork. 

The project files cover the period from 1934-1961 and contain clippings, catalogs, brochures, and scrapbooks. This material documents Bach's work as an industrial designer, architect, and painter from 1934-1992.

The files on the Ridgeway Center mall are particularly extensive. Photographs cover the period from 1937-1961 and document Bach's design projects, particularly the Ridgeway Center, his house in Stamford, and the Miami and New York offices of Callaway Mills. Portraits of Bach and his family are included as well. 

Glass lantern slides document Bach's interior and exterior design projects. Also included are several signed and numbered prints of Bach's watercolor scenes of the Riviera.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Archival Materials
content: Materials at the Smithsonian

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Drawings and Prints Department holds 431 drawings of designs for furniture, textiles, lamps, pianos, clocks, appliances, and retail, office, and home interiors