Lecture date: 1987-05-01
As an introduction to a discussion of several museum and gallery projects by his own practice, Michael Graves discusses the typology of museums, reflecting on a series of plans including Schinkel’s Altes Museum; McKim, Mead, & White’s Brooklyn Museum; Soane’s Dulwich Picture Gallery; and the adaptation of the Palazzo degli Uffizi into the Uffizi Gallery. Graves then presents a selection of his own work, including the remodelled Michael C Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, Ohio; a competition project for the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio; the much-delayed Newark Museum, New Jersey; and his controversial proposal for an addition to Marcel Breuer’s original building for the Whitney Museum, New York.
After establishing his practice in Princeton in 1964, Michael Graves proved himself to be one of the most significant figures in the theory and practice of architectural design throughout the succeeding decades. As an architect and designer, Graves famously described himself as a ‘general practitioner’. He began teaching at Princeton University in 1962, becoming the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture. He has been a visiting professor at numerous other universities throughout the United States.
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