Michael Graves (1934 - 2015), the late celebrated architect and designer and founder of Michael Graves Architecture & Design has won the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Cooper Hewitt. Graves is best known for broadening the role of the architect in society and raising public interest in good design as essential to the quality of everyday life.
Graves, a prominent voice in architecture and design since founding his practice in 1964 has designed with his firm over 350 buildings and more than 2,000 products for clients such as Target, Alessi, Stryker, Kimberly-Clark and Disney.
Few are credited with spearheading a single design movement. Michael Graves led three. In the 1980's he redirected the architectural conversation away from abstract modernism toward a more humanistic approach to architecture and urban planning - an approach that MGA&D still practices today. In the 1990's, his partnership with Target defined America's expectation that great design should be available to all.
Over the past decade Michael became a passionate advocate for the disabled and used the power of design to improve healthcare experiences for patients, families and clinicians.