Gilbert Rohde, a lesser-known pioneer of American industrial design, was an influential precursor to modernist designers such as George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames. In the '30s and early '40s, Rohde was a strong proponent of simple, mass-produced furniture, and his standardized, biomorphic modules for office furniture quietly proliferated in American offices. Although well-known during his lifetime, Rohde has slipped from the radar in modern design history, and New York scholar Phyllis Ross seeks to redress this. At the Art Institute of Chicago, Ross discusses her new book, Gilbert Rohde: Modern Design for Modern Living, the first comprehensive monograph on this radical modernist designer.