Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graveswas an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, as well as Memphis Group, Graves was known first for his contemporary building designs and some prominent public commissions that became iconic examples of Postmodern architecture, such as the Portland Building and Denver Public Library. His recognition grew through designing domestic products sold by premium Italian housewares maker Alessi, and later low-cost new designs at stores such as Target and J. C. Penney in the United States...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth9 July 1934
CityIndianapolis, IN
CountryUnited States of America
It was always my goal to 'up the ante' on good design, and I've devoted much of my career to this.
We always correct people who say, 'You're trying to make this look better.' Well yes, we want it to look better, but that's easy. The look and the function are one and the same. They are not separate. It looks good because it functions beautifully. That message is very hard.
I think it's a really good way to get people to come up here. It's good to expand your mind by meeting people of other countries and beliefs, a good experience.
Good design to me is both appearance and functionality together. It's the experience that makes it good design.
Good design should be available to everyone - and I do mean everyone. What I spent on the wheelchair I'm in could buy a small Mercedes. It's not only unfair to me; it's unfair to someone who's indigent but has the same needs. My goal is to make all objects affordable.
I stayed true to what I thought was good design no matter who it was for.
In designing hardware to be used every day, it was important to keep both the human aspects and the machine in mind. What looks good also often feels good
When I started my own practice, I was criticized, not because I was doing product design but because, like Le Corbusier, I was insisting on paintings in all of my buildings. I would paint wall murals in the houses that I designed, just as he did in the '20s and '30s.
It would be nice if the cities knew who would be prosecuting before they passed the ordinance and started arresting people.
I used a kind of gray-green early on in my practice for painting steel, to make it look more like it had a kind of patina to it, like copper and bronze and so on. The color I used was a Benjamin Moore color called 2012. My then-young daughter started calling me 2012 - it was my nickname.
Rather than see the Art Center as an isolated object in the green, ... we were intrigued by the possibility of creating a positive, reciprocal relationship between the building and the landscape.
At the time we were planning the building, ... Joyce wanted to include a sensory park. But the budget wouldn't let us do both projects, so we agreed to work on the park when there was money to do so.
Views are overrated; it's light that counts. I have an apartment in Miami's South Beach, and I get tired of looking at the ocean. Even that view gets old after a while. Sunlight streaming into a room - it never gets old.
I don't clean now, because I'm paralyzed. But let me tell you, I would clean. I cleaned, and I ironed. It's my inner femininity.