“Few careers can claim to be as productive; Mr. Graves had over 350 buildings and some 2,000 products to his name. From his cake-white and keystone ornamented Portland Building (1982) in Oregon to the blue-handled Alessi tea kettle with the red bird whistle (1985), he aimed to make design approachable at every scale. Ultimately, he became more famous to the general population—especially those who shopped at Target, for whom he designed products for more than 15 years—than emulated by fellow professionals.”
Tag: 03.13.15
What A Reality TV Series Did For Ballet West
“Despite the worries and righteous indignation at the company’s supposed lowbrow treatment of ballet, Ballet West seems to have emerged from the experience in fine shape and with an undeniably more prominent profile. Though there is no definitive correlation, ticket sales in the last two years have risen by more than 20 percent, and Ballet West’s touring schedule is busier than ever.”
Major Fire At Battersea Arts Center
“A large cloud of black smoke can be seen billowing across Clapham. The fire is believed to have started in the roof of the Grade II listed building, which houses a theatre. There are no reports of any injuries.”
Should Military Action Be Taken To Prevent ISIS From Destroying Historic Sites?
Saving ancient sites “needs to be a priority, it needs to be the first thing” in the struggle against Islamic State, Zahi Hawass said before lecturing this week at USC. “I receive emails all the time from young archaeologists in these countries, and they are afraid. We can’t wait, we can’t leave them to destroy our history.”
Michael Graves, 80, Pioneering Postmodern Architect And Designer
“Not many architects can claim to have spearheaded a major design movement. Michael Graves played a prominent role in three.”
Marilynne Robinson, Roz Chast Win National Book Critics Circle Awards
Chast, a longtime New Yorker cartoonist, won the autobiography award for Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?“. Lila, the final book in Robinson’s Gilead trilogy, took the fiction prize; other winners included John Lahr (for his Tennessee Williams biography), the late critic Ellen Willis, poet Claudia Rankine, and historia of American slavery David Brion Davis.