Architecture by Michael Graves

Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel:
Orlando, Florida, 1990
Example of appropriated design elements.
Classical styles relate to those found in ancient Egypt.

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Examples of Egyptian Architecture

Egyptian Temple

The Great Pyramids at Giza
 
 

Kom Ombo

Philae
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Other examples of architecture by Michael Graves with classical motifs.

Portland Public Service Building
Portland, Oregon 1982

Humana Building, Louisville, Kentucky 1985

Clos Pegase Winery in the Napa Valley 1987

Entrance and Pillars at Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emery University in Atlanta, Georgia 1993

Michael Graves is the winner of fifteen Progressive Architecture Design Awards, nine American Institute of Architects National Honor Awards, and thirty-eight New Jersey Society of Architects, AIA Awards.  In 1999 Graves was awarded the National Medal of Arts and in 2001 the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects.

Graves earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree from Harvard University. An architect in public practice in Princeton, New Jersey, since 1964, 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. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has achieved his greatest fame with his designs for domestic household items sold at Target stores in the United States.

Analysis: His designs are simple, bold and have modern appeal while featuring the classic styles found in ancient architecture. These elements appear timeless and give the buidings a sense of monumental nobility while still pleasing contemporary commercial society. The clean elegant lines soar and at the same time relate well to human scale.  Shapes are rendered in their most basic forms yet translate to a sophisticated and practical reality.