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Telling
Stories
The talk entitled “Telling Stories” describes
strategies for the design of buildings, interiors, and
artifacts that are common to societies throughout the
world and allow users to identify with them. This argument
is illustrated by examples of Michael Graves & Associates’
work in the United States, Europe and the Middle East,
including hotels in Europe, a government ministry in
The Netherlands and the restoration of the Washington
Monument. In these and other examples, the local context
and building techniques contribute to the understanding
of architectural character.
Descriptions of the interiors of the hotels leads into
a discussion of furnishings and artifacts designed by
the firm, and how they contribute to the character of
buildings while amplifying the human dimension. |
Karen Nichols |
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| Biography
The architectural firm of Michael Graves & Associates
will be represented at the conference by Karen Nichols, FAIA.
Michael Graves, who was originally scheduled to give the opening
address, is recuperating from a serious illness and is not
able to travel to Scottsdale at this time.
Karen Nichols, is the Managing Principal of Michael Graves
& Associates, a leading architectural and design firm
based in Princeton, New Jersey and New York City. She was
elevated to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American
Institute of Architects this year in recognition of her career
achievements and contribution to the profession. Working with
Michael Graves and her five other business partners, she has
built the firm’s practice around the integration of
architecture, interior design, and product design.
The 105-person firm has been in the forefront of architectural
design since its founding in 1964 and received over 160 design
awards for its projects. The architectural practice encompasses
a wide variety of building types worldwide. The firm’s
body of work in the United States includes the Humana Building,
projects for Disney, the Denver Central Library, and the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Headquarters and Hall
of Champions. These buildings, along with many other significant
projects all over the world such as the Headquarters for the
Ministry of Health and Sport in The Hague, The Netherlands,
have directly influenced the transformation of urban architecture
from abstract modernism toward more contextual and traditional
themes.
In addition to overseeing the practice as a whole over the
past 25 years, Karen Nichols has been responsible for numerous
architectural and planning projects, primarily for educational
and arts-related institutions. Among these are the Riverbend
Music Center in Cincinnati, the master plan for the Detroit
Institute of Arts, and the ongoing renovation and expansion
of The Newark Museum in New Jersey, which received a National
AIA Honor Award in 1990. She is also part of the core team
that has developed the firm’s product design department,
which has designed over a thousand consumer products for manufacturers
such as Alessi and retailers such as Target.
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