LAS VEGAS – At the HD Expo show here at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at the Venetian Hotel and Resort, Michael Graves addressed a packed crowd of designers and architects and offered insights into how he got his start.
Graves has been designing buildings for almost 50 years, and currently has two companies—one that focuses on architecture and the other on design. He has created more than 350 buildings and 2,000 products for companies like Target thus far in his career, as well as receiving 200 design awards.
Graves noted that he always loved to draw, but his mother told him to pick a field that used drawing, rather than aspire to become an artist, as she felt it was a dead end. So, he noted, at eight years old, he decided to become an architect. He also recounted how, over the course of his education and a period of time studying in Rome, his inspiration and design sensibility was created.
In the second half of the session, Patrick Burke, principal and studio head for Michael Graves & Associates, talked about the current project the firm is working on, which is very heavily based around Graves design sensibilities. The project is Resort World Sentosa in Singapore, and is a $4.3 billion mixed-use development including several hotels and casinos and even an amusement park.