Archinect - News

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Tennessee's Studio Four Design, its sixth firm since 2022

2024-03-11T16:08:00-04:00

Princeton, New Jersey-based Michael Graves Architecture has announced that the firm is expanding once again with the acquisition of Studio Four Design, a successful 17-person operation working with over twenty years of experience on various project types in the Knoxville, Tennessee, market.

The expansion follows five other acquisitions completed between March 2022 and June of last year. The move will allow the firm to compete in a new region, where they say they have identified a need for design services. The two share a similar organizational mission that's geared towards creating a "human-centric" architecture. Michael Graves' CEO and President Joe Furey says the addition "[encourages] us to embrace new perspectives and experiences, furthering our mission to create impactful design nationally."

Stacy Cox, Principal at Studio Four Design, added: "This merger leverages the skillsets and experiences at Studio Four Design, allowing us to take our capabilities and offerings to a new le...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Texas' Parallax Team as expansion continues

2023-06-21T16:58:00-04:00

Michael Graves Architecture has once again expanded its operation after announcing the acquisition of the Texas-based AEC technology consultants Parallax Team.

The firm’s fifth such expansion in the past 15 months follows the acquisitions of PGN Architects, Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce, Waldon Studio, and Jose Carballo Architectural Group (each located in the mid-Atlantic market) and will buy the firm stakes in a new sector.

“We have been working closely with Parallax for some time, and have remained impressed with the way their team is able to seamlessly integrate these important technologies into day-to-day practice,” the firm’s President and CEO Joe Furey said. “When evaluating this acquisition, we were not only excited at the prospect of joining their team with ours but at the proposition of being involved with a company that has such unifying potential — both internally for our staff, and externally from an industry standpoint. Collaboration has been an essential part of our...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires PGN Architects — its fourth firm within one year

2023-03-30T15:12:00-04:00

Michael Graves Architecture has expanded once again with its newly-announced acquisition of Washington, D.C.’s PGN Architects (PGN). The addition marks their fourth such move in the past twelve months, following successive mergers with Mid-Atlantic firms Waldon Studio Architects, Jose Carballo Architectural Group, and Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects, respectively.

The Princeton-based MG announced the merger on Thursday as an attempt to bolster its expertise in the multifamily market and sectors. PGN Partners Jeff Goins and Sean Pichon will remain in leadership roles, while MG President and CEO Joe Furey will oversee the integration along lines related to the firm’s long-term strategic plan.

“When evaluating this acquisition, we immediately recognized the talent, forward-thinking design approach, and deep level of experience within the PGN team, especially in the multifamily sector with many mixed-use projects. As we learned more about each other, we realized our values al...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Walter Robbs — its third firm in eleven months

2023-01-31T18:18:00-05:00

Michael Graves Architecture is once again expanding in the Mid-Atlantic market with the newly-announced acquisition of the well-known North Carolina-based firm Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects.

The move comes after successive acquisitions of Maryland's Waldon Studio Architects and the New Jersey-based Jose Carballo Architectural Group last year. The newly-formed company will retain its current Partners, while the trio of Wesley Curtis, Ken McDaniel, and Matt Messick will now serve as its three Principals.

“When evaluating this acquisition, we immediately recognized the talent and deep experience within the Walter Robbs team, particularly in the higher education, K-12, community, and sports sectors. As we learned more about each other, we realized our values were aligned, and that our collaboration would create instant synergy,” MG CEO Joe Furey explained in a press statement. “We were immediately impressed with Walter Robbs’ portfolio, its people, and the collaborative nat...

Peter Marino looks back on some harsh influences and early lessons

2022-06-29T11:59:00-04:00

Marino spoke to artist Rashid Johnson for Interview at length about his early client, the magazine's founder Andy Warhol, as well as a host of other topics, including his art collection, time at Cornell, and what he sees as the gradual evolution of pop art’s influence into the works of contemporaries like Michael Graves.

“I think some of Graves’s work is very good, but as an architectural movement, it’s very mannerist. It’s one person’s interpretation. Pop art shaded him, and I was always a bit terrified of the postmodern movement. I thought Venturi, Scott Brown [and Associates] did good work, but I think it’s fair to describe it as a niche section in the field.”

Previously on Archinect: Check out these quotes from Peter Marino's '60 Minutes' episode

The famed retail designer also recalled his early days in the offices of Nelson and SOM, reacting to changes in the city’s architectural palette that he found aberrant and blamed squarely on dramatic post-war shifts in design education ...

The Moleskine Foundation's latest exhibition features notebooks of artists and architects such as Michael Graves, Carlo Stanga, and 2022 Pritzker Prize winner Diébédo Francis Kéré

2022-05-13T17:07:00-04:00

A new book arts exhibition from celebrated notebook maker Moleskine is now on view at One World Trade Center’s One World Observatory, marking the first public exhibition of artwork in the attraction’s seven-year history.

Opened today, the Moleskine Foundation’s Detour New York exhibition features notebooks by the late architect Michael Graves, Italian architect Carlo Stanga, and this year’s Pritzker Prize winner Diébédo Francis Kéré.

Carlo Stanga, "I had a dream" (2019). Image courtesy Moleskine Foundation.

According to the foundation, the suite of 75 individual artworks by various creative thinkers “celebrates how blank pages can become a work of art in themselves, providing moments of inspiration and introspection.” The exhibition is separated into five themes: Metamorphosis, Memory, Borders, Journey, and Imagination. Each notebook tells a different story, dream, or “distinctive way of being and relating to the world.”

In Memory, viewers can see this introspection perhaps most espe...

Michael Graves Architecture is expanding with the acquisition of Waldon Studio Architects

2022-03-08T13:35:00-05:00

A major ten-year strategic plan of one of the most high-profile firms on the East Coast is underway after Michael Graves Architecture & Design announced its acquisition of the smaller Waldon Studio Architects, which was founded in 2003.

The New York, Washington, and Princeton-based Graves is expanding its footprint further down the Northeast Corridor with the acquisition of the 39-member office, which has operations in Baltimore, DC, and in Howard County.

Waldon had previously acquired another smaller Baltimore-based practice called Kann Partners in 2018 and is currently one of the largest firms in the city with $5.42 million in architectural billings reported for the year 2020, according to Baltimore Business Journals. Waldon’s founder and current principal, Ravi Waldon, will retain his title and serve as head of any religious projects for the new combined entity after the transition.

Graves’ ...

Michael Graves Design teams up with CVS to create a more stylish and accessible line of home health care products

2022-02-22T13:26:00-05:00

CVS Pharmacy and Michael Graves Design are now teaming up on a direct-to-market line of home health care products that will build on the legacy of inclusive design beget by its namesake in the inspiring last decade of his life and career.

The initial round of products focuses on bathroom safety and mobility aids and includes a foldable cane, travel walker, shower chair, 3-in-1 commode, and raised toilet seats each based around philosophies of the Design for All movement which the architect helped create.

CVS Health Take Along Folding Cane. Image courtesy Michael Graves Design.

In order to get the best possible input and consumer feedback from users of the products and their caregivers, the firm undertook a comprehensive ethnography study along the east coast that provided extremely valuable insights into a too-often overlooked area of home product design.

CVS Health Raised Toilet Seat. Image courtesy Michael Graves Design.

“This product actually gives people the feeling that, hey, so...

Portland Building is no longer historically significant

2019-06-13T16:58:00-04:00

A new audit conducted by the city of Portland, Oregon presents an alarming view into the contentious renovations currently being undertaken for the Michael Graves-designed Portland Building.

Among a flurry of critiques aimed at the project organizers, the report states that changes performed to the building's outward material configuration have been so transformative as to effectively nullify the iconic postmodern tower's historical significance.

The report warns: "Despite the importance of historic preservation, there was no minimum requirement identified for this project principle. The project team [only] identified an aspirational goal and anticipated benefit to 'maintain the historic and iconic status of the building.'"

The Portland Building in 1982, Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Steve Morgan.

The project, guided by a desire to mitigate water infiltration along the building's concrete facade, will essentially re-skin the 15-story tower with a pressed aluminum rainscreen desi...

An exhibition with over 300 objects designed by architects opens at Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine

2019-06-06T15:53:00-04:00

At the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine (Architecture and Heritage City), in Paris, France, a new exhibition has opened featuring the designed objects of over 125 architects. According to the museum, which was first established in 1879 by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, "the exhibition proposes to discover how architects fit into the decorative arts, through the design of furniture, objects and lighting of architects."

Examples of objects on display at Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine.

The exhibition will be on view between until September 30th, and is complimented by several guided tours.

Michael Graves drawings acquired by Princeton University Art Museum

2019-05-31T13:59:00-04:00

“We are pleased to be able to preserve and share these important drawings, which document numerous projects and reflect Michael Graves’s manifold interests and talents, here at the museum, where he was known as family, and with our global audiences,”

The Princeton University Art Museum has acquired a collection of nearly 5,000 drawings created by postmodern-era architect Michael Graves.

Graves, who died in 2015, was a prolific artist who sketched out many of his iconic building proposals using his signature yellow-, sienna-, and aqua-hued color pencils. The gifted collection is filled with many examples of Graves's virtuosic output and includes drawings made with ink washes, pen and marker, and pencil, as well.

Drawing of San Pietro church in Frascati, Italy from 1961 by Michael Graves. Image from the Estate of Michael Graves via the Princeton University Art Museum.

Graves started his practice in 1964 at Princeton University, where he taught for 39 years before retiring in 2001. Throughout that long and storied career, Graves drew up designs for an incredible array of boundary-pushing buildings, including the Portland Building in Oregon, the Dolphin and Swan hotels at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, as well as an unbu...

The iconic Portland Building's postmodern, multicolored facade is dismantled

2018-03-09T16:09:00-05:00

Designed by Michael Graves, the pioneering Portland Building is at once considered to be a postmodern icon as well as the "ugliest building in Oregon". A rectangular block of four, heavily ornamented, salmon and turquoise facades, the building can easily be likened to a small, fancy French cake. But, beyond the merits of its aesthetics, the 15-story office tower has also been criticized for its structural mishaps that include seismic deficiencies and water intrusions issues.

Concern over these flaws, as well as a healthy dose of po-mo hate, have led to long held discussions regarding its potential destruction. In 2015, the conversation was finally brought to head when the city decided to move forward with a major, $195 million reconstruction of the building.

Photo by Joakim Lord. Courtesy of Docomomo Oregon.

The rebuild, which was approved by the Landmarks Commission due to the building's historical significance, will mean updates to the building's operating systems and seismic retr...

After being rejected by Princeton, three Michael Graves properties slated for purchase by Kean University

2016-06-28T17:27:00-04:00

Through his will, he donated the properties to Princeton University, his neighbor and longtime employer. [...] “We were grateful to be able to consider the possibility of accepting Michael Graves’s properties, but concluded that we could not meet the terms and conditions associated with the gift,” [Princeton] said in a statement. Among those “terms and conditions” were preserving the houses and making them fit for education — a cost that Kean said it was willing to take on.

Estimates by Kean's president, Dawood Farahi, place annual maintenance costs for the three Princeton, NJ properties (including The Warehouse, Graves' home and studio) at $30,000 to $40,000 per year, and "retrofitting the buildings for student use would cost about $300,000. The three properties were appraised for a total value of nearly $3.2 million."

Related on Archinect:

"Fast Forward, Look Back": Archinect Sessions Episode #21, featuring Craig Hodgetts of UCLA's Hyperloop Studio, and remembering Michael Graves with colleague Patrick Burke

2015-03-19T19:20:00-04:00

Last week, Michael Graves passed away at the age of 80. In the aftermath, much attention has been paid to his most eye-catching work, but as often occurs when someone of great influence passes away, focusing on the person's products comes at the expense of honoring their humanity – simply, who they were as a person. In this light, this episode we hear from Patrick Burke, principal and studio head at Michael Graves Architecture & Design (where Burke got his start in 1982), reflect on Graves’ life of hard work, perseverance, and empathy.

Paul and Amelia also paid a visit to the UCLA IDEAS campus in Playa Vista, to speak with Craig Hodgetts about his rapidly accelerating Hyperloop Studio, where students are bringing Elon Musk’s transit technology into the near-future. Donna also reflects on Thom Mayne’s marathon visit through Indiana, and Ken shares some finer points of career politics.

As always, you can send us your architectural legal issues, comments or questions via twitter #archine...

Editor's Picks #408

2015-03-16T11:50:00-04:00

Nicholas Korody profiled the Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). jla-x was excited as has "been looking for a way to get involved with something like this".

News

- The world lost visionary Frei Otto and his death moved up the announcement of his winning the 2015 Pritzker Prize. Plus, the renowned Michael Graves died and his firm promised to "continue to honor Michael’s humanistic design philosophy".

While EKE thought Otto was "a spectacular choice. Bravo.", Eric Chavkin noted "Frei Otto's work inspired Glen Small's BIOMORPHIC BIOSPHERE and much of early SCI_Arc student work". RJ Magoon also opined "No matter your opinion on the man or his work, it's hard to deny Graves' enormous influence on the practice and education in the last quarter of the Twentieth Century".

Ayesha Ghosh reported in from the first of the Architectural League of New York 2015 Emerging Voices lecture series, with firms Aranda\Lasch and MANUEL CERVANTES CESPEDES / CC ARQUITECTOS. There Aranda claimed "we like th...

Michael Graves has died at the age of 80

2015-03-12T17:53:00-04:00

Michael Graves, the renowned architect and founder of Michael Graves Architecture & Design (MGA&D), died peacefully of natural causes in his home in Princeton, New Jersey on Thursday. He was 80 years old.

Born in Indianapolis on July 9, 1934, Michael Graves is regarded as bringing "post-modernism" to the masses. As a young architect, Graves worked for George Nelson who sparked his deep interest in American pop culture, which was conveyed throughout his work. Graves also collaborated with teaching colleague Peter Eisenman in numerous competitions and was also part of the New York Five. Wherever Michael Graves' name was mentioned, plenty of attention -- good or not -- was sure to follow, and will continue to do so for years to come. For starters, the Kean University Michael Graves School of Architecture is slated to open later this year.

His firm, Michael Graves Architecture & Design, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014. Reflecting Graves' wide range of design interests and focuse...

Editor's Picks #393

2014-11-14T13:38:00-05:00

"394,000 US$!! This is the budget of homes in America that are 1/10th of this quality. Perhaps it's for two people, who are empty nesters, and entertain for a large extended family. The simplicity of materials and form, is exceedingly elegant". - b3tadine[sutures]

The latest edition of Showcase: features Slate House, located on a site in Laval, a suburb of Montreal. Designed by Affleck de la Riva architects, it stands in sharp contrast to the tract houses that surround it.

b3tadine[sutures] exclaims "394,000 US$!! This is the budget of homes in America that are 1/10th of this quality. Perhaps it's for two people, who are empty nesters, and entertain for a large extended family. The simplicity of materials and form, is exceedingly elegant".

As part of Archinect’s continuing ACADIA 2014 coverage Amelia Taylor-Hochberg reviews the keynote by creator of SimCity Will Wright's, which she labels "almost a exegesis".

News
Mark Minkjan spoke with Rory Hyde re: the ongoing relevancy of the profession and Future Practice. Darkman felt the need to clarify "Most architects I know build schools, hospitals, churches, malls, apartment buildings etc. It's just the media that feeds us the Versaces...and Ivy League universities".

The Wall Street Journal published...

NJIT blasts Kean U. architecture school plans; calls proposal duplicative, wasteful

2014-11-12T13:23:00-05:00

Kean University’s plans to open a school architecture now face opposition from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, which claims the program would be a wasteful duplication and that Kean has failed to seek approvals [...] “If you have the state involved in sponsored programs, they would have to have a geographical disparity or offer different programs. I think it would hard not to come to that conclusion,” said Urs Gauchat, NJIT Dean of the School of Architecture and Design.

Previously in the News: Kean University announces the Michael Graves School of Architecture

More on this issue also in the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Archinect Sessions: Paul and Amelia discuss the ensuing beef between the two schools with co-hosts Donna Sink and NJIT graduate Ken Koense.

Designing for Seniors and Soldiers, Toward a "Silver" Architecture

2014-11-11T14:25:00-05:00

In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, geriatrician Louise Aronson advocated for a new type of building, one designed with an aging population in mind, which, she suggests, might be dubbed “silver” architecture. [...] It being Veterans Day, this article got me thinking about architect Michael Graves, who recently designed a pair of houses for returning soldiers that follow through on many of Aronson’s suggested parameters for silver design.

Kean University announces the Michael Graves School of Architecture

2014-10-28T13:23:00-04:00

The School’s curriculum will intensively utilize the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area and the Wenzhou region of China, where Kean University has an English-speaking campus [...] “Michael Graves’ philosophy is to draw by hand first so that the students see, “feel” and experience the new building spatially. Then, only after the drawing is complete will the students transfer the design to a computer so that the computer becomes an execution tool, not an ideation tool.”

Preservation politics and pricey prizes: Weekly News Round-Up for October 14, 2014

2014-10-20T20:51:00-04:00

Sunday, October 19:

The Portland Building: Architect Michael Graves fiercely defends his controversial creation against demolition: According to The Oregonian's piece, the architect does not think any of the problems are by his design, but rather its application under budgetary and civic constraints.

Thursday, October 16:

Unesco threatens to put Venice on its Heritage at Risk list: Responding to corruption and mismanagement of environmental risks by the Venetian government, UNESCO may have to declare Venice a "Heritage at Risk".

Wednesday, October 15:

Honolulu Law Criminalizes Homelessness: It is now a misdemeanor in the popular tourist destination of Waikiki to "sit or lie on sidewalks", punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a maximum $1,000 fine.

Tuesday, October 14:

Maya Lin wins the 21st Annual $300K Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize: At $300,000 USD, the prize is one of the US's largest, afforded to artists working to affect social change.
Petrified Forest buildings named national treasu...

The Portland Building: Architect Michael Graves fiercely defends his controversial creation against demolition

2014-10-19T17:22:00-04:00

Graves came out swinging. "I saw some people outside selling tomatoes," he said. "I have no idea what that meant." He complained about his treatment in the local news media: "350 buildings, and I don't have this treatment anywhere else. . . Usually when I revisit buildings, it's to get the keys to the city. Here, there are tomatoes for sale."

Michael Graves' Vision: Making Hospitals More Fashionable

2013-08-29T17:52:00-04:00

For the better part of two years, Graves checked into hospitals and rehabilitation centers as a business traveler checks into hotels. [...] While receiving his medical care, Graves was struck by the poor designs of hospitals, health care facilities and the chairs, tables and other devices used by patients. "If it's going to be this bad for everybody else in health care," he said, "I should do something about it."

Previously: Architecture for Recovery: IDEO and Michael Graves Design a Home for Disabled Military Veterans

President Obama Appoints Michael Graves to Key Administration Post

2013-02-04T13:52:00-05:00

President Obama said, “These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles. Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Vinton G. Cerf – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Marta Araoz de la Torre – Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Michael Graves – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
Laurie Leshin – Member, Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum
Lynne Sebastian – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Michael Graves, Joey Shimoda & others Honored at 34th Annual Interiors Awards

2013-01-28T19:08:00-05:00

The winners of the 34th Annual Interiors Awards, presented by Contract magazine, have been unveiled. Besides the top entries in each of 13 project categories, ranging from large and small offices to public space and adaptive re-use, the jury also chose LA-based architect and designer Joey Shimoda as recipient of the 2013 Designer of the Year Award. The 2013 Legend Award was bestowed upon Michael Graves.

Michael Graves' product design for Acme Studio

2012-12-13T12:21:00-05:00

Architect and Product Designer Michael Graves talks about his long standing partnership with Acme Studios. This short promo video, filmed and produced in his Princeton studio, highlights popular Acme products by Graves that are currently available.

Responses to Grave's Op-ed on hand vs computer drawing

2012-09-10T11:52:00-04:00

Architectural practices and academic programs should rethink their wholesale replacement of teaching hand drawing and model making with computer skills alone. Digital tools can enhance the tactile interpretations of architectural concepts, and there should be room for teaching both when educating architects of the future.

The NYT has published a few of the responses they're received about Michael Grave's recently published piece Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing.

To read some of the comments from Archinect users, click here.

Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing

2012-09-04T12:32:00-04:00

IT has become fashionable in many architectural circles to declare the death of drawing. What has happened to our profession, and our art, to cause the supposed end of our most powerful means of conceptualizing and representing architecture? The computer, of course.

Michael Graves pens an opinion piece for the Times.

Editor's Picks #252

2012-02-27T11:50:00-05:00

Architect Michael Graves considers the Portland Building one of his top achievements even though the building is still controversial. mdler thinks "this thing is a POS" and elletoman commented "gross". Donna Sink disagreed arguing "I love the Portland building and most important I love that this building happened.

For the latest Showcase Archinect talked to Iranian-Canadian creative director and photographer Sam Javanrouh. He provided two images of Daniel Libeskind's Crystal for the Royal Ontario Museum; one titled Jumping Girl, the other portrays the space without people. So we asked, him "What are your thoughts about including people in your photos? Is it important to photograph a building in use, or by itself?" and he replied "It really depends on the subject and the mood I'm trying to convey. Sometimes showing a structure alone with nothing else to distract is most powerful, and sometimes including people in the shot is what makes the photo. A good example of that is the Jumping Girl photo that I shot in ROM's Crystal. I have a photo of the same exact interior with no people in it, and it has a completely different feeling and it doesn't have the same energy. If I have the luxury of shooting the photos with and without people and choosing later I try to do that."

For CONTOURS: Sherin ...

Portland Building still controversial after 30 years

2012-02-22T22:20:00-05:00

“It had such a low budget. I was criticized for putting the windows in too small, but it got more expensive the more glass I had. I wasn’t the one who put the workers near the windows, limiting the light let in. Most people don’t realize I didn’t design the interior.” Despite proceeding to design award-winning buildings and products worldwide, Graves holds the Portland Building as one of his greatest achievements. He still enjoys talking about the sculpture that sits in front, Portlandia.