Michael Graves (1934-2015)

American postmodernist architect and designer, Michael Graves designed the Indianapolis Art Center, iconic example of Postmodern architecture, and worked on the restoration of the Washington Monument. He wasone of the iconsof New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture

Michael Graves, c. 1970s. Courtesy Michael Graves Architecture & amp; Design. — Michael Graves, c. 1970s. Courtesy Michael Graves Architecture & Design.

Image source:https://www.artforum.com/passages/stan-allen-on-michael-graves-1934-2015-51897

About his life

Michael Graveswas born on July 9,1934, in印第安纳州polis,印第安纳州. He studied atHarvard Universityand designed modernist private houses before adopting postmodernism in the1970s. He’s known for designing such structures as thePortland Building,Humana Buildingin Louisville and the印第安纳州polis Art Center. His other projects include the restoration of theWashington Monumentand the creation of a line of items forTarget. Graves died in2015at the age of 80.

Michael Graves' Portland Building. — Michael Graves’**Portland Building**,1982.

Image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/fc39ba58-b0f7-4e46-b579-59c19e7d6a6byChris Harley

Image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/f0224634-cafd-4808-a0e5-f95ff358922fbyMe in ME

Humana building, Louisville, KY/USA — **Humana building**, Louisville, KY/USA

Image source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humana_Building

What are the main features of Graves’s style?

As he was a disciple ofModernism, his early architecture in the 1960s was imbued with its spirit: predominantly whitegeometric volumescomposed withclean,sparse lineswithno ornamentation. Rejection of past references—such as decoration—was a hallmark of his early style, which echoed the works ofMies van der RoheandLe Corbusier和密斯的座右铭,

Less is more.

Hanselmann House, Michael Graves, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1967. — **Hanselmann House**, Michael Graves, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1967

Image source:https://abuildingaday.tumblr.com/post/127731117445/hanselmann-house-michael-graves-fort-wayne

Examples of Graves’s Modernist sensibilities are evident in theHanselmann House(1967–71) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the addition to theBenacerraf House(1969) in Princeton, New Jersey.

Michael Graves, Benacerraf Pavilion, 1969. Courtesy Michael Graves Architecture & Design. — **Benacerraf Pavilion**, 1969. Michael Graves,New Jersey.

Image source:https://www.artforum.com/passages/stan-allen-on-michael-graves-1934-2015-51897

He also adorned kitchen kettle spouts with whistling plastic birds, built municipal office buildings with cartoonish toy-town facades, and embellished the roof of aDisney度假酒店与一双28-tonne天鹅。postmodern American architect Michael Graves, injected morechildlike exuberanceinto his buildings and product designs than any of his contemporaries – and produced some of the most争议的作品of the period as a result.

St. Coletta School, of Greater Washington ,1901 . Michael Graves. — **St. Coletta School**, of Greater Washington ,1901 . Michael Graves.

Image source:https://fotospot.com/attractions/district-of-columbia/st-coletta-of-greater-washington

Credited as one of the originators ofpostmodernism, Graves developed a style of sampling motifs from classical architecture and blowing them up to become theatrical billboard-sized props, clothing his buildings in historical fancy-dress costumes. It was an attempt to bring back wit, humour and meaning to architecture, as a reaction against the po-faced austerity of modernism.