Michael Graves

American architect and designer, born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and educated at the University of Cincinnati and at Harvard University. His innate gift for drawing and painting became one of the cornerstones of Graves's architectural talents. After earning his master's degree in architecture at Harvard in 1959, he won a two-year fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. His immersion in classical architecture and painting had an enduring effect on his ideas of design. In 1962 Graves returned to the United States as a lecturer in architecture at Princeton University. He rose through the ranks of assistant professor and associate professor to become a full professor in 1972. Graves met frequently with other young architects to discuss the nature of architecture and its interplay with the environment and urban problems. With Peter Eisenman he worked on “New Jersey Corridor Study,” an imaginary city extending from New York City to Philadelphia. Notoriety from this study led to their inclusion in several major New York exhibitions, and in 1972 they joined three other prominent young architects to produce Five Architects, a collaboration of their cumulative work to date. The book, with its emphasis on form over pared-down technology, became the focus of critical discussion of the nature of contemporary architecture.
Graves has designed elements ranging from the minimal to the megastructure. He has produced murals, posters, rugs, costumes, kitchenware, and furniture as well as houses, showrooms, and large-scale buildings. He has relied heavily on Mediterranean and classic examples, mixing their elements with those of contemporary masters as he sought a common architectural language. His major buildings include the Portland Building in Oregon, an innovative, decorative and energy-efficient structure that opened in 1982; the pastel San Juan Capistrano Regional Library built in California Spanish missionary style; and the Humana Building in Louisville, Kentucky, a pink and red granite skyscraper. One of Graves's most important commissions was as the architect of an addition to the Whitney Museum in New York City in the 1980s. His first two sets of plans proved too controversial, but his third rendering preserved the essence of Marcel Breuer's stark gray granite building while combining it with his own artistic vision. Graves's recent buildings include an eclectic hotel and convention complex at the Walt Disney World Epcot Center in Florida topped with giant dolphins and swans.