Rambusch (The First 100 Years, 1898-1998)

Rambusch: The First 100 Years, 1898–1998 chronicles the growth of an independent, workshop-based, family business now being run by a fourth generation.

This book offers the definitive history of the company started by Danish-born Frode Christian Valdemar Rambusch (1859–1924) in New York. Beginning with his efforts in decorative painting and murals, the story expands into lighting design and continues with a study of subsequent generations building upon—and further expanding—these fields of work into other media. The narrative also provides focus on more than two dozen artisans responsible for making the objects and interiors often requested by well-known architects.

Few American firms have flourished as this company has in the United States. Now in the twenty-first century, the firm inspires similar collaborative efforts between architects, designers, and craft studios to work together for the decorative arts to regain their place in the finishing of our nation’s buildings. Notable for its longevity and still going strong, the story of Rambusch needs to be told, especially while generations who have institutional memory can tell it.