Michael Graves: Images of a Grand Tour

In 1960, before his skyscrapers and teapots made him a household name, Michael Graves set out on a journey once considered obligatory for a young architect: a grand tour of the great monuments of Europe. Recipient of the prestigious Prix de Rome, Graves traveled through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, England, Germany, and France, studying and recording the masterworks of ancient and modern architecture. Michael Graves: Images of A Grand Tour collects the stunning artwork produced during this trip. Delicate pencil sketches, striking ink washes, and colorful photographs show the deep connection between Graves and the places he visited, from the Roman Forum to the Grecian Acropolis to Wiltshire's Stonehenge. They also tell something of the education of an architect, bringing to light the classical buildings and painterly instinct that led Graves to reexamine his early devotion to modernism. A foreword by Graves reflects on these travels from the distance of forty years, while author Brian Ambroziak puts the tour into the context of Graves's career.

This special slipcased edition is printing in a limited quantity of only 1,500 copies in honor of Graves, who died in March 2015 at the age of eighty.

Brian M. Ambroziak studied under Michael Graves at Princeton University and worked for four years as a project designer for Michael Graves & Associates. In 1999, he co-authored Infinite Perspectives: Two Thousand Years of Three-Dimensional Mapmaking. He is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design.

Michael Graves (1934-2015) was a prominent American architect and designer, first known for his contemporary building designs and some prominent public commissions that became iconic examples of Postmodern architecture. Later in his career his recognition grew through designing domestic products for Alessi as well as Target.