HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
MICHAEL GRAVES
AANDAL.S.A
INTRODUCTION:
Michael Graves (born 1934) was a leading
American architect and designer, instrumental in
the emergence of Post-Modernism in the mid-
1970s.
His classicizing and colorful buildings are
intended to make contemporary architecture more
meaningful and accessible.
EARLY LIFE :
Graves was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Broad
Ripple High School, receiving his diploma in 1952.
He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of
Cincinnati where he also became a member of the Sigma
Chi fraternity.
He earned a master's degree in architecture from Harvard
University.
Graves is also the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture,
Emeritus at Princeton University.
He directs the firm Michael Graves & Associates, which has
offices in Princeton and in New York City.
CAREER:
Early in his career Graves was identified as a member of
the New York Five, a group of young architects whose
largely residential designs were reminiscent of the Swiss
architect Le Corbusier in their geometric abstraction.
A 1972 book on this group first brought Graves exposure
and drew attention to the distinctive characteristics of his
work.
In his Hanselmann House (Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1967) a
complexity of form and yet a transitory quality were
created by his layering of exterior spaces.
CAREER:
These qualities became more pronounced in his
Benacerraf House addition (Princeton, New Jersey,
1969) and in his Snyder man House (Fort Wayne,
1972), as did his organization of interiors into
distinct rooms, an approach at odds with the
Modern movement's traditional emphasis on
openness of plan.
AWARDS:
Graves was elected a Fellow of the American
Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1979.
In 1999 Graves was awarded the National Medal
of Arts,
In 2001 the AIA Gold Medal, in 2010 the AIA
Topaz Medal, and in 2012 the Driehaus Prize for
Classical Architecture.
He is also a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures
Council
WORKS OF GRAVES:
The Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando,
Florida, 1987
Snyderman House, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1972
Humana Building, Louisville, Kentucky, 1982
Newark Museum expansion, Newark, New Jersey,
1982
Portland Building, Portland, Oregon, 1982
Roma Interrotta Exhibition, Rome, Italy, 1978
Wage man House, Princeton, New Jersey, 1974
WORKS OF GRAVES:
Washington Monument restoration and scaffolding
Washington, DC, 1999
Watch Technicum, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, 1999
425 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 2000
Capital Regional Medical Center, Tallahassee
Community Hospital, Tallahassee, Florida,
WORKS OF GRAVES:
Dolphin Resort, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, 1987
Swan Resort, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, 1987
Metropolis Master Plan, Los Angeles, California, 1988
Tajima Office Building, Tokyo, Japan, 1988
Disney's Hotel New York, Euro Disney Resort
(now Disneyland Paris), Marne-la-VallEe, France, 1989
Clark County Library and Theatre, Las Vegas, Nevada,
1990
WORKS OF GRAVES:
Steigenberger Hotel in El Gouna, Egypt, in association with
Ahmed Hamdy, 1997
The International Finance Corporation Building in
Washington.
The Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando,
Florida, 1987
WORKS OF GRAVES:
Humana Building in Louisville, Kentucky, NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis,
1982 Indiana, 1997
WORKS OF GRAVES:
Museum of the Shenandoah
Valley in Winchester, Virginia,
2005
WALT DISNEY
WORLD,FLORIDA:
WALT DISNEY RESORTS:
HANSELMANN HOUSE:
HANSELMANN HOUSE:
Michael Graves’s first architectural commission was a new
house for two high school friends, Jay and Lois Hanselmann,
who constructed it themselves.
From his studies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design,
Graves was influenced by the work of Le Corbusier.
His early house designs evidence his exploration of both the
geometric compositions of the master as well as a similar
interest in narrative content. In
its original design, the Hanselmann House and the space
immediately in front of it are a double square in plan and a
double cube in volume.
HANSELMANN HOUSE:
The house is understood frontally as a series of
layered planes: from the wall of a small studio and a
pipe rail frame defining the entrance (not
constructed), to the front façade of the house, and
finally to the densest plane, the rear wall of the living
room.
The mural that Graves painted on that wall contains
references to the architecture of the house and the
natural world, creating an imaginary extension into
the landscape.
DRAWINGS OF THE HOUSE:
CURRENT PROJECTS:
He is still active in his practice, which is
developing a number of projects; including an
addition to the
Detroit Institute of Arts,
and a large Integrated Resort,
Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore.
