Michael Graves

Photo of Michael Graves looking at the camera, arms crossed and holding his glasses in his right hand.

Michael Graves, 1934-2015

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 9, 1934 to Thomas Graves and Erma Lowe, Michael Graves was a renowned architect. He graduated from Broad Ripple High School in 1952, received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1958, and his Master's Degree in Architecture from Harvard University in 1959. He taught architecture at Princeton University for forty years, and established his architectural firm, Michael Graves and Associate, in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1964. His early works include the Hanselman House (1967) and the Snyderman House (1972) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. By the late 1970s, Graves worked with Postmodern and New Urbanism designs. Some of his works in this period include the Portland Building, the Humana Building (1982) in Kentucky, and numerous structures for the Walt Disney Company, such as the Team Disney Headquarters in Burbank, California, the Dolphin (1987) and Swan (1988) resorts at Disney World in Florida, and Disney's Hotel New York (1989) at Disneyland Paris.

Beginning in 1989, Graves, along with the firm Raymond J. Jaminet and Partners, began construction of the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. Designed in the Postmodern style, the museum contains a smokestack-like structure on one of its levels, columns, an arched copper roof, and a rotunda which allows natural light into the reading room of the archives. The museum is constructed of brick, glass block, tinted glass, exterior insulation and finish system. Each side of the museum resembles the design of a steel mill from a different period. The museum was dedicated in 1992.


Photo of the replica model of the YHCIL
Photo of YHCIL models and architectural plans in the January 1988 issue of "Progressive Architecture."
Models of YHCILProgressive Architecture, January 1988 issuep. 123