1934-
Architect

The Best of a New Generation.

Michael Graves was one of the most influential architects of the last thirty years in the United States. As an educator at Princeton University, Graves influenced his students with his philosophy of architecture as a "symbolic language" that expressed not merely the need for shelter but "society's pattern of rituals." Coming of age during the heyday of modern architecture, Graves rejected the machinelike structure of the 1950s for more humanly scaled, environmentally aware, and socially conscious buildings. Like those of other postmodern architects of the 1970s, Graves's designs blend classical and modern forms in new ways.

Life.

Michael Graves was born on 9 July 1934 in Indianapolis, Indiana. During childhood Graves enjoyed drawing and painting, which he claimed he turned to as a way to avoid playing the violin. His parents, who were farmers, discouraged Graves from a career in...