82 interiors+sources may2017 interiorsandsources.com
+ Evolution
A name that is renowned in the design world, Michael Graves (1934-2015) was an anomaly as an architect who, through
his own experience, found success in
solution-based product design geared to
meet the everyday needs of most people.
His firm, Michael Graves Architecture &
Design (MGA&D), with offices in Princeton,
N.J., Washington, D.C., and Manhattan,
was founded in 1964 and has undertaken
a wide variety of projects. Even in his early
days of work, he was involved in everything
from master planning of cities to residential work designing homes and everything in them. His legacy lives
on through every task the MGA&D team undertakes, and is well carried by partners who have been with the
firm for many years. “We have a very close, sort of family-like relationship,” said Karen Nichols, FAIA, archi-
tecture principal who has worked with the firm for 40 years. “The interesting thing about us is not only the
breadth of all we do, but that we also work on each other’s disciplines. We see
how product design methodology can sometimes
work in architecture and the other way around.”
With products selling in stores like Target and
JCPenney, MGA&D designed goods that came
head-to-head with household names like Cuisinart
and KitchenAid. But when Graves’ health took
a turn in the early 2000s, he realized there was a
need for better-designed products in the health-
care space, which brought about the firm’s partnership with Stryker. These
innovations became an addition to Graves’ legacy that lives on today.
michaelgraves.com
By Jenna Lippin
+ Evolution
WHERE IT BEGAN
After working across various areas in architecture
and interior design, product design as a commercial
enterprise started for Graves in 1979 with a limited
edition rug collection for V’Soske. Soon after,
Graves started drawing tables, chairs, sconces, etc.,
sparking the firm’s interest in working with furniture
manufacturers. “Architecture was fascinating to the
general public then, and it was in so much of the
breadth of what we did,” Nichols said.
INTRO TO ALESSI
In 1983, Graves was invited to participate in a promotional
project by Alberto Alessi; he had 11 international architects
each design a “Coffee and Tea Piazza,” which was a tray
with a coffee pot, teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and spoon.
It was used in galleries to endorse Alessi's entry into the
American market. Because of its popularity, Graves was
then asked by Alessi to design the now famous whistling bird
teakettle. This led to a decades-long collaboration that
saw the introduction of more than 150 products.
RIGHT ON TARGET
The Alessi product collaboration ushered the name Michael
Graves into the consumer products sphere, a space where his
peers did not play. The firm soon began its design work with
Target. “In the Target project, we developed [more than] 2,000
products in 22 categories of the store,” said Donald Strum,
MGA&D principal of product design. “We made sure that when
we were designing, we knew what was going on in the store.
We knew within weeks if a product would make it, working
directly with the marketing department of Target.”
MichaelGraves
Arc h i t e c t u r e + D e s i g n PhotographcourtesyMGA&D PhotographcourtesyofBillKontzcias PhotographcourtesyofMGA&DPhotographbyWilliamTaylorPhotographbyGeorgeKopp
