Michael Graves passed away on March 12 at the age of 80 at his home in Princeton.
His name, first of all, is associated with postmodernism: both his buildings and the numerous household items created by him as a designer (in total - about 2000 objects) are perceived as the most indicative "illustrations" to this direction. At the same time, it is often forgotten that Graves' work is not at all limited to the 1980s.
He was born in 1934 in Indianapolis, in 1964 he founded his own bureau in Princeton, then became one of the "New York Five", or a group of "Whites," trying to renew the language of modernism. In addition to him, the "five" included Peter Eisenman, Richard Mayer, John Hayduk and Charles Guotmi.
Then there was the "starry" period of Po-Mo, when Graves built huge office and public buildings of complex colors and entertaining shapes, and also developed the design of teapots, pepper pots, telephone sets. At that time, his customers included the inevitable Alessi and the patron saint of Disney postmodernists.
However, Graves continued to work actively as a designer and architect even after postmodernism faded from the scene. In the late 1990s, he began collaborating as a designer with the mass producer of affordable goods Target: some colleagues perceived this as populism, but Graves himself believed that design should not be the privilege of the wealthy elite, and sought to work for the general public.
In 2003, as a result of illness, the architect lost the ability to walk, and personal misfortune became another stimulus for him to creativity: he actively took up the topic of hospital design and a barrier-free environment. Among similar projects of Graves -
village for wheelchair veterans.
Michael Graves 1934-09-07 - 2015-12-03
