Michael Graves’ household products for Target and his Whistling Bird Teakettle have made him a household name. But, in the 1980s, Graves was already the darling of the architecture world with his “post-modern” buildings that took a playful approach to classical forms.
A sudden illness in 2003 left him wheelchair bound. Remarkably, this opened a new chapter in his career, creating better health care facilities and homes for disabled veterans.
Geoffrey Baer takes us on a grand tour of the life and career of one of America’s best-known architects and product designers in Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour.
You can watch the documentary on Thursday, March 22 at 8:00 pm on WTTW Channel 11. Repeat broadcasts will be on Friday, March 23 at 8:00 pm and Saturday, March 24 at 11:30 pm.
Michael Graves is also the 2012 recipient of the Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 24 at 11:00 am in the John B. Murphy Auditorium, 50 E. Erie St. in Chicago. The ceremony will include a panel discussion moderated by Geoffrey Baer with Michael Graves, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers and Paul Goldberger.
Watch the full documentary in the video below.
Graves discusses his childhood influences in the web-exclusive video below.
In the following web-exclusive video, Graves talks about his experience hearing Frank Lloyd Wright speak in Indianapolis
Visit the show's website for more web-exclusive content.