Born in 1934 in Indianapolis, Indiana Michael Graves, architect, artist, designer of all goods, has become a household name. His education was done at the University of Cincinnati where he received a Bachelors Degree an at Harvard University where he received his Masters. After his education in the States he headed to the American Academy in Rome where he was subjected to the Italian culture, which may be his biggest influence. This classical architecture would become his primary source of inspiration. After years of building homes in the private sector, Michael Graves completed his first commercial concept in the late 1970's. The Fargo-Moorhead Cultural Center was Graves first commercial drawing. The bridge ties together two separate communities with its broken arch, window keystone, grid and symbolic waterfall in stone. This project evolved Post-Modern Classicism; the classical language tied with the Modern - to produce the typical hybrid of Post-Modernism. Other Post-Modern Classical buildings during this time were Charles Moore's Piazza D'Italia and Philip Johnson's AT&T Building. Michael Graves' concept of the Fargo-Moorhead Cultural Center yielded national acclaim and recognition from the Washington Post and the New York Times, giving Graves name recognition and popularity.Michael Graves received his first large-scale commercial break when the Sunar Furniture commissioned him to design temporary showrooms in New York and Chicago. The result consisted of a dramatic procession through portals, with various reminders of nature suggested by Pergola. The outside environment was suggested by the windows, and the colorful fabric was suggested not only by the samples of real cloth, but the polychromy of the walls.
The Sunar Furniture Building was Graves' his big break, but The Portland Building was his defining achievement. Winning the commission because it was more spacious and economical, the building was also beloved by the choosing committee. Beautifully set at the end of its civic garden, the building was placed as to be seen in splendid perspective from the bridges across the river. It achieves harmony with its more classical neighbors and is wholly contextual, abandoning the International Style. Graves employs a flat, sharply cut panel base - reminiscent of Louis Sullivan - each attempting to clad a light steel skeleton in order to transform it into an integral plastic body. Vincent Scully wrote of the Portland Building: "Having seen the Portland Building on its site, one can hardly do other than to regard it as a solid vindication of Graves' method of design. We now see that the issue is a contextual one, and that Graves has scored a significant triumph in that regard." Scully also goes on t say that, "the building is of Portland and for Portland, a victory of mind and spirit in this place."The Crown American Corporation provided such an opportunity. Built in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a blue-collar community with a largely steel-based economy, the Crown American Corporation Headquarters is a modern-day palazzo. The palladian motifs seem remarkably at home in a mixed neighborhood that includes neo-Gothic and Romanesque Revival Churches, low-rise office buildings and parking lots. The building has a tripartite division of volumes with wide stripes of mauve and ochre stone that accentuate its girth. Inside, however, Graves proves that he is a master at creating ambiance. Graves designed the building's furniture, light fixtures, carpeting, and company china. Once again, Graves ventures into yet another aspect of his skill in design.
Since the mid-1980's, Graves has become something of an elder in the architectural community which has similarly heightened his popular appeal. Graves' popularity has attracted a variety of high-profile clients, including the Walt Disney company, for which he has designed an office building and the Dolphin and Swan Hotels. Although Disney has dubbed Graves' work as "entertainment architecture," Graves remains quite serious about having his fun. From the 1990's and continuing into the new millennium, Graves has secured the position that most architects covet: the ability to command commissions, and budgets, appropriate with his ambitions. Graves said of his current architectural direction: "I find myself in a period of refinement, trying to make what I established some time ago better." "I want to make architecture that one has to look at carefully, experience, be a part of, read - there is something new each time you come to that architecture."
His buildings dominate the site with a visual scale and pleasing appearance unlike the surroundings. Though these designs are so much different and are very much foreground buildings, Graves manages to make them fit the site by manipulating the bases in a way that creates a smooth transition. He is concerned with each buildings individual geographical and cultural context. This is one of the three general principles of the Post Modern movement; contextualism. Graves believes that a building should have a defined bottom, middle,
and top just as does nearly everything in life. He also has a strong belief that, unlike the modern era, an entrance should be called out not hidden in the picture; a drawing force that invites you in. Michael Graves has put his signature on the Post Modern Era. His buildings and household goods are his contribution to the American architecture and an American culture of the twentieth century. With his artistic abilities he continues to create marvelous works of art; while his methods for calling out history and integrating it into today's technological world are superior. These buildings which draw upon history are unmistakably of today.
