Michael Graves
Early Life and Education
Michael Graves was born on July 9, 1934, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He grew up in a middle-class family and was interested in art from a young age. He attended Broad Ripple High School, where he decided to pursue a career in architecture.
He began his architectural studies at the University of Cincinnati, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1958. He then went on to study at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he received his Master of Architecture degree in 1959. At Harvard, he studied under the influential modernist architect and theorist José Lluís Sert.
In 1960, Graves won the prestigious Rome Prize, which allowed him to study at the American Academy in Rome for two years. His time in Rome was a transformative experience. He was deeply impressed by the city’s classical and baroque architecture, and he spent his time sketching and studying the great monuments of the past. This early immersion in the history of architecture would have a profound and lasting influence on his work.
After returning from Rome in 1962, he began his academic career at Princeton University. He would remain on the faculty at Princeton for nearly four decades, and he became a beloved and influential teacher.
In 1964, he established his own architectural practice in Princeton, New Jersey. His early work was heavily influenced by the modernism of Le Corbusier, and he was associated with the “New York Five,” a group of five New York-based architects (the others were Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier) who were all committed to a pure and rigorous form of modernism. The group’s work was characterized by its white, geometric, and highly abstract forms.
Architectural Philosophy and Career
Michael Graves’s architectural philosophy was a journey from the purist modernism of his early career to a more eclectic and accessible form of Postmodernism. He was one of the most important and influential figures in the Postmodern movement, and his work helped to redefine the relationship between architecture, history, and popular culture.
In the late 1970s, Graves began to grow disillusioned with the strictures and limitations of modernism. He felt that modern architecture had become too abstract, too elitist, and too disconnected from the needs and desires of the general public. He began to search for a new architectural language, one that was more colorful, more decorative, and more communicative.
He found inspiration in the history of architecture, and he began to incorporate classical and vernacular forms into his work. He was interested in creating an architecture that was “figurative” and “anthropomorphic,” with a clear base, middle, and top, like a classical column or a human body. He used color, ornament, and historical allusion to create buildings that were rich in meaning and accessible to a wide audience.
His career took a decisive turn in 1982 with the completion of the Portland Building in Portland, Oregon. The building was a radical and controversial departure from the glass and steel boxes of the International Style. It was a colorful, decorated, and highly symbolic building that became a manifesto for the new Postmodern movement.
Graves’s philosophy was rooted in a belief that architecture should be a form of public art, and that it should be able to communicate with a broad audience. He was a master of drawing, and his beautiful, hand-rendered sketches were a key part of his design process.
In addition to his architectural work, Graves was also a prolific and highly successful product designer. In the 1980s, he began a long and fruitful collaboration with the Italian design company Alessi, for whom he designed a series of popular and iconic household objects, including his famous 9093 “birdie” kettle.
In the 1990s, he began to work for the Target retail chain, designing a wide range of affordable and well-designed products for the home. This work made him a household name and helped to democratize good design.
In 2003, Graves’s life and career took another dramatic turn when he was struck by a mysterious infection that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but he continued to work with undiminished energy and creativity. His experience as a person with a disability gave him a new perspective on the importance of universal and accessible design, and he became a passionate advocate for healthcare architecture.
Notable and Famous Works
Michael Graves’s portfolio includes a wide range of projects, from influential houses and public buildings to popular consumer products.
The Portland Building (1982) in Portland, Oregon, is his most famous and controversial work. The 15-story municipal office building is a colorful and highly decorated building that is a key monument of Postmodern architecture. Its use of classical forms, such as garlands and keystones, and its large, allegorical statue of “Portlandia” were a radical and playful critique of the austerity of modernism.
The Humana Building (1985) in Louisville, Kentucky, is another of his major postmodern works. The 26-story skyscraper is a powerful and elegant building that is clad in pink granite and has a dramatic, cantilevered porch that overlooks the Ohio River.
The Denver Public Library (1995) is one of his most important and beloved public buildings. The library is a large and complex building that is a playful and eclectic mix of different forms, materials, and colors. It has become a popular and welcoming civic landmark.
The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels (1990) in Orlando, Florida, are two of his most exuberant and theatrical works. The two resort hotels are a riot of color and form, with giant, 47-foot-tall swan and dolphin statues on their roofs. The buildings are a prime example of “entertainment architecture” and have become icons of the Disney brand.
His 9093 Kettle (1985) for Alessi is one of the most famous and successful product designs of the 20th century. The stainless steel kettle, with its whimsical, bird-shaped whistle, has sold millions of units and has become a classic of postmodern design.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Michael Graves received numerous awards and honors for his work. In 1999, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. In 2001, he received the AIA Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Institute of Architects. In 2012, he was awarded the Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture.
His legacy is that of a great communicator and a populist. He was a key figure in the Postmodern movement, and his work helped to liberate architecture from the dogmatism of the International Style. He showed that architecture could be fun, colorful, and accessible to a wide audience.
He was a brilliant and influential teacher, and his work at Princeton helped to shape a generation of architects. He was also a pioneer in the field of product design, and his work for companies like Alessi and Target helped to bring good design to the masses.
While his postmodern work has been criticized by some for being superficial or kitschy, his supporters see him as a humanist who brought a new sense of joy, meaning, and communication to architecture.
In his later career, he became a powerful and inspiring advocate for accessible and universal design. He used his own experience of disability to create a new and more empathetic approach to healthcare architecture.
He was a true giant of American architecture and design, a man of immense talent, charm, and creativity. He died on March 12, 2015, at the age of 80.