Architect Michael Graves

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the Michael Graves' drawings and buildings are notable for their manipulation of archetypal form into highly abstract, figurative compositions. The paper then points out that Graves gave up the neutral glass curtain wall of late modernism and instead uses a colorful cloak of cladding by which he reintroduces the hierarchical composition of classical buildings more characteristic of postmodernism. The paper also reports that Michael Grave's Public Service Building in Portland, Oregon has at least four distinct historical styles embedded in its design: egyptian, italian, art deco and modern.

From the Paper:

"Levin agrees as well that postmodernism has derived from the ability of artists to produce works in a mass quantity, so to speak, because of new processes and products involving mass production: "By the time men were traveling to the moon, art was being assembled in factories from blueprints." While the postmodernist may see the modernist era as more scientifically oriented, it is clear that postmodernism is also influenced by scientific developments and possibilities. Levin says that modernism was highly optimistic, while postmodernism is more cynical."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Deutsche, Roslyn. "Uneven Development: Public Art in New York City." In Diane Ghirardo, Out of Site: A Social Criticism of Architecture. Seattle: Bay Press, 1991.
• Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell, 1989.
• Hemmens, George. "The Postmodernists Are Coming, the Postmodernists Are Coming." Planning, Volume 58, Issue 7 (July 1992). June 11, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/5001677181.
• Levin, Kim. Beyond Modernism. New York: Harper and Row, 1988.
• Stennott, R. Stephen (ed.). Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture. Volume: 2. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.

More papers on Architect Michael Graves:

• Analytical Essay # 133982 : "Michael Graves' Architecture"
• Descriptive Essay # 111814 : "Post Modern Architects"
• Essay # 37684 : "Post Modernism"

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