Form must never trump function. Some objects are made to look so smooth, you don’t know where to pick them up or how to turn them on. If I’m designing a garlic press or cheese grater, I need my hand to fit comfortably on it. I like to know, instinctively, how to use it. Michael Graves Read Quote
The oldest book I have is a treatise on architecture from the 17th century. Michael Graves Read Quote
As a child, I was obsessed with drawing things, like Mickey and Donald. And houses. My mother was worried I’d become an artist. Michael Graves Read Quote
The cost is minimal, but one of the things that you want in a universal design is to make the plan as open as you can… and to still have walls around bedrooms and that sort of thing, and to keep the corridors wide enough so the wheelchair can do a 360 in the corridor. Michael Graves Read Quote
I used a kind of gray-green early on in my practice for painting steel, to make it look more like it had a kind of patina to it, like copper and bronze and so on. The color I used was a Benjamin Moore color called 2012. My then-young daughter started calling me 2012 – it was my nickname. Michael Graves Read Quote
We use blue on the handle of the Alessi kettle. Blue is cool, so you’re supposed to think that it’s not hot. And the bird is red: you’re supposed to think to be careful to remove the bird. Michael Graves Read Quote
I don’t clean now, because I’m paralyzed. But let me tell you, I would clean. I cleaned, and I ironed. It’s my inner femininity. Michael Graves Read Quote
I’m working on a school of architecture in China. It’s rare that an architect gets to design a school of architecture, and here I get to do it. I’m so pleased that they asked me. Michael Graves Read Quote
When you do what I do, there are a lot of institutions that give you awards. I’ve gotten maybe 20 medals. They’re glorious, and there’s a spirit behind them. But sometimes they give you this dreadful modern glass thing. I wish everyone could afford a loving cup. Michael Graves Read Quote
