flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Michael Graves talks with Washington Post about new design eye from life in a wheelchair

Michael Graves talks with Washington Post about new design eye from life in a wheelchair

A mysterious virus paralyzed Graves, an experience that let him have a wider design focus as an architect for the ill and disabled.


By BD+C Staff | July 15, 2014

He is one of the nation's most prominent and celebrated architects. He’s designed everything from hotels for Disney to civic buildings, such as the municipal center in Portland, Ore.

In the late 1970s, he entered the world of industrial design after an invitation from Italian company Alessi to design a coffee and tea set.  In 1984, his kettle design for Alessi became a hit, and until this day remains the company’s number one bestseller. In the late 1990s he started designing everyday items for Target, which made him even more of a household name.

In sum, his signature style was ubiquitous, and he was heralded for bringing sophisticated design to the masses.

If anything, the mysterious virus he contracted in 2003 that led him to paralysis from the chest down was a catalyst that pushed him to have an even wider design focus.

He recently sat with Barbara Sadick of the Washington Post to talk about working as a full-time architect as he lives in a wheelchair.

“I believe well-designed places and objects can actually improve healing, while poor design can inhibit it,” he told the Post. “This became very real to me after my illness, so since then I’ve asked my design team to spend a week in a wheelchair.”

Graves further shares that good design for the ill and disabled isn’t just about accessibility, but also beauty. “Beauty can reduce stress and make us feel better,” he said, and adding that good design makes work easier for the caregivers, professional, or family.

To date, Graves keeps busy with multiple projects, many of them related to designing healthcare buildings, where Graves can use his expertise and personal experience to good use. Among these are a rehabilitation hospital in Lincoln, Neb., for people with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, and a new unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital that offers acute care for the elderly.

In industrial design, Graves is working with a health technology firm to design hospital room products that, as the Post describes, “will be not only easier for those with disabilities to use, making falls less likely, but also more attractive than what is found in many hospital and rehab rooms and much easier to clean.”

All of these projects, of course, will have Graves’ signature, whimsical, post-modern look and use of bright colors.

“Who wants to recover,” he tells the Post, “in a place where everything is beige?”

Read the full Washington Post profile. 

 

 

The Wounded Warriors Home project in Fort Belvoir, Va., designed by Graves in partnership with Clark Realty Capital.

Prime Transport Chair for Srtyker Medical. Image courtesy of michaelgraves.com

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

ACSA announces 2008-2009 ACSA/AISC steel design student competition winners

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the winners of the ninth annual steel design student competition for the 2008-2009 academic year.  Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program challenged students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction.

| Aug 11, 2010

ZweigWhite Announces 2009 Best Firms to Work For

Management consulting and research firm ZweigWhite has identified the best civil engineering, structural engineering, multidiscipline A/E services, environmental services, and architecture firms to work for in its annual ranking of top industry firms. These outstanding employers were selected based on their commitment to provide a positive work environment and challenging and interesting work opportunities for their employees.

| Aug 11, 2010

Autodesk 2010 Certification Now Available for Design Professionals

Autodesk, Inc., (Nasdaq: ADSK), today announced that design and engineering professionals can become Autodesk Certified in AutoCAD 2010, Autodesk Inventor 2010, Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010, and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 software. Becoming Autodesk Certified allows professionals, and companies boasting Autodesk Certified employees, to validate their industry skills and knowledge, demonstrate expertise and gain credibility.

| Aug 11, 2010

Jacobs, CH2M Hill, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the 75 largest federal government design firms

A ranking of the Top 75 Federal Government Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

Manhattan's Pier 57 to be transformed into cultural center, small business incubator, and public park as part of $210 million redevelopment plan

LOT-EK, Beyer Blinder Belle, and West 8 have been selected as the design team for Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 at 15th Street and the Hudson River as part of the development group led by New York-based real estate developer YoungWoo & Associates. The 375,000 square foot vacant, former passenger ship terminal will be transformed into a cultural center, small business incubator, and public park, including a rooftop venue for the Tribeca Film Festival.

| Aug 11, 2010

AIA selects three projects for National Healthcare Design Awards

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) have selected the recipients of the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards program. The AIA Healthcare Awards program showcases the best of healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research.  Projects exhibit conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban, and social concerns as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital.

| Aug 11, 2010

AGC: Construction employment declines in 47 states in July

Few states were immune from construction employment declines this July based on an analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.  That analysis found that 47 states saw declines in construction employment, while only two states saw increases and one saw no change in construction employment between July 2008 and July 2009.

| Aug 11, 2010

AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%

Unemployment in the construction sector climbed to a “horrendous” 19.2 percent (not-seasonally adjusted) as an additional 59,000 construction workers lost their jobs in May according to new federal data, said construction economist Ken Simonson today.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021