Michael Graves
Michael Graves was a prominent American architect and designer known for his significant contributions to modern architecture and product design. By the 1990s, he had established himself as a key figure in the field, partly through his involvement with the New York Five, a group of influential architects who emerged in the 1970s. Graves's portfolio includes a diverse array of projects such as museums, hotels, and residential buildings, with notable works like the Team Disney Building in Burbank and the Portland Building in Oregon.
In addition to his architectural endeavors, Graves expanded his creative influence through his firms, focusing on interior design and product design. He gained widespread recognition for his collaboration with Target, creating an accessible line of home products that made quality design available to a broader audience. His whimsical yet classical aesthetic resonated with many, resulting in a lasting presence in homes across America.
Graves's later work focused on accessible design following a spinal cord infection that left him paralyzed from the waist down. This shift led to innovative designs aimed at improving usability for individuals with disabilities. His legacy includes numerous accolades, such as the National Medal of Arts and the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects. Graves passed away in 2015, leaving behind a significant impact on architecture and design.
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Michael Graves
Architect
- Born: July 9, 1934
- Birthplace: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Died: March 12, 2015
- Place of death: Princeton, New Jersey
During the 1990s, Graves revolutionized the design of everyday objects and the way they are marketed.
By the 1990s, Michael Graves had already established himself as an important thinker and teacher of architecture, with many well-known building commissions. His inclusion as one of the New York Five (with Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier, Charles Gwathmey, and John Hejduk), an unofficial group of modernist architects who had made their reputations during the 1970s in reaction to the designs and issues of the 1960s, guaranteed his place in cultural history. Graves’s architectural assignments included museums, college buildings, business towers, arts centers, libraries, hotels, and residences. Commissions during the 1990s included the Team Disney Building in Burbank, California, and two resort hotels for Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Graves, however, was interested in more than buildings by the 1990s. With his two firms, Michael Graves & Associates (specializing in architecture and interior design) and Michael Graves Design Group (product and graphic design), he had found new media for his interests. He designed the workspaces and chairs for his seventy employees and formed partnerships to explore applications of his aesthetic to fabrics, dinnerware, jewelry, lighting fixtures, and housewares. His signature touch involves a whimsical twist on the classical designs that he had learned to love during his early studies in Italy.
In 1998, Target stores announced an exclusive Michael Graves line of home products, including closet organizers, teakettles, and laundry baskets. Graves proclaimed that good design should be accessible to everyone. The line proved immensely successful with Target shoppers, paving the way for other “class” designers to partner with stores that served the masses. Graves’s products made him a household name as well as a presence in peoples’ kitchens, and he raised Target’s prestige and stock price.
Graves owned a special etching machine to autograph his more expensive products, which appreciate in value. He designed china and silverware for Italian manufacturer Alessi, packaging for a new corporate image for Lenox china, a coffeemaker for a third company, and blankets and throws with another partner. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1999 and the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 2001.
In 2003, Graves contracted a spinal cord infection which paralyzed him from the waist down. This led him to shift his professional focus to accessible design, or the design of objects and buildings that are more easily usable by people with disabilities. He and his firm designed wheelchairs, hospital furnishings, hospitals, and disabled veterans' housing. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London mounted a retrospective of his work in 2011, and in 2014 Kean University, in Union, New Jersey, establishd the Michael Graves School of Architecture. He received the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2015.
Graves died on March 12, 2015, at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. He was eighty years old. His partner, Minxia Lin, sons, Adam and Michael, and daughter, Sarah, survived him.
Impact
Michael Graves filled a major niche in modern architecture and high-quality design. Graves and his contemporaries, who have been criticized for their celebrity client lists and popular appeal, have informed the work of some younger architects.
Bibliography
Eisenman, Peter, et al. Five Architects: Eisenman, Graves, Gwathmey, Hejduk, Meier. New York: Oxford UP, 1975. Print.
Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Print.
Patton, Phil. Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Everyday Object. New York: Melcher Media, 2004. Print.
Pogrebin, Robin. "Michael Graves, 80, Dies; Postmodernist Designed Towers and Teakettles." New York Times. New York Times, 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 June 2016.
Wolford, Nancy L., and Ellen Cheever. Kitchen & Bath Design Principles: Elements, Form, Styles. 2nd ed. Hoboken: Wiley, 2015. Print.