Past as Prologue was a symposium held in November 2014 in honor of Michael Graves on the occasion of his fiftieth year in practice. Organized by The Architectural League and hosted by Parsons The New School for Design, the day brought together 14 architects, designers, educators, writers, and others to celebrate Graves’ remarkable and distinctive body of work.
Examining Graves’ extensive work and influence beyond buildings, this session explored how Graves has reached the public through products, including lines for Alessi, Target, and J.C. Penney. Glenn Adamson, director of the Museum of Arts and Design, begins by contextualizing Graves’ work in decades of object and interior design, including his role in the development of post-modernism. Ron Johnson, former CEO of J.C. Penney and vice president of merchandising for Target, describes the profound impact of Graves’ affordable product lines on reaching everyday consumers. Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research and Development, shares passion for the design of healthcare products that enhance lives, including the iBOT wheelchair invented by Kamen and used now by Michael Graves. In conversation, moderated by writer and editor Karen Stein, the three discuss the role of the designer in the creation of consumer goods and the humanity that Graves has brought to mass retail through “scaled” lessons learned from architectural design.
For more, visit archleague.org/graves.
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