Michael Graves : Buildings and Projects, 1990-1994

Over the past three decades, Michael Graves's career has been one of the most remarkably creative and successful of any American architect practicing today. His extensive oeuvre includes such renowned projects as the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel and the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel in Florida, the San Juan Capistrano Library in California, and the precedent-setting Portland Building in Oregon, as well as designs for his highly popular lines of furniture, home furnishings, and artifacts. When introduced in the late 1970s, Graves's figurative architectural language marked a radical departure from the abstract modernist forms that had dominated postwar architecture. Today his signature aesthetic - elemental shapes, references to historical forms, and warm colors that often reflect Italian and classical influences - is recognized worldwide.
Presented in this monograph are seventy-one of Graves's built and unbuilt projects of the past five years, generously illustrated with photographs and plans, as well as Graves's evocative sketches and colored facade drawings. Featured projects in the United States include the Denver Central Library in Colorado; The Team Disney Building, Disney's corporate executive offices in Burbank, California; the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, with its extraordinary galleries for ancient art; and several private residences, including Graves's own Italianate villa in Princeton, New Jersey.

Janet Abrams is a New York-based cultural critic, curator, and currently a contributor to I.D. magazine. Her articles have appeared in many publications, including Archis, Lotus International, and Blueprint.