Contract - January/February 2013 - (Page 60)

wave-form top of a scale follows the arch of the foot. Objects bulge, roll, or swell, begging to be touched. And the versatility in product design extends to architectural products for interiors. For Skyline Design, he created the 5+ glass collection, which features patterning that offers different levels of transparency and translucency. The success of Graves’s product design derives from more than a talent for making nice-looking objects. Nichols says that their designers research the client’s products, brand, and customers. “We walk the halls [of a hospital, for example,] and ask everyone down to the janitors to talk to us.” First-hand evidence-based design A decade ago, a bright future for Graves and his firm was hard to imagine after his sudden paralysis. In 2003, an untreated sinus infection spread to Graves’s spinal cord, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the chest down, requiring surgery and treatment in several rehabilitation centers on-and-off for two years. Initially, no one knew whether he would be able to continue working, but the longevity and closeness of the firm’s leadership allowed it to continue with several major projects. Graves says his architecture and product design share a humane sensibility, and that understanding has served him and his firm well. “The work is always people-centered,” he says. So when Stryker asked him to redesign the overbed table in 2009, he took on the task with relish and was determined to “put it on a diet” after existing examples he encountered in eight hospital stays were “so heavy, so clumsy, so overdesigned,” Graves says. His Stryker models are easy to 60 move, with soft curves, radius edges, and flush surfaces that have a serious purpose. “We made everything easy to clean because 99,000 people die every year from diseases they catch in the hospital,” Graves says. “We made the drawer pulls, the handles, and the paddle that takes it up and down very visible, not like a modern architect would do.” His condition also contributed to his knowledge base for the design of fabrics for healthcare interiors. Graves has designed 14 fabric patterns in two collections for cf stinson. The Michael Graves Collection—developed in collaboration with Crypton—was introduced in 2006 and the Voyages Collection was launched in 2012. Graves is currently working with cf stinson to design a new collection of highperformance woven fabrics for healthcare environments targeted for introduction at NeoCon® East 2013 in Baltimore, where Graves will be a keynote speaker. “Michael’s direct experiences as a patient related to his chronic condition have profoundly informed his view of what is most needed to promote healing and wellbeing,” says John Rowan, director of sales and product development at cf stinson. “Michael can more fully understand and empathize with what the patient experiences in the typical healthcare setting.” Homes for wounded warriors Graves’s design for The Wounded Warrior Home Project at Fort Belvoir, Virginia is packed with interior insights that are easily overlooked by people without disabilities. The two prototype homes completed in 2011 for service members returning to active duty at Fort Belvoir are single-story and contractdesign.com january | february 2013 photography: courtesy clark realty capital; courtesy michael graves design group (opposite) Wheelchair-bound for the past decade, graves is acutely aware of mobility challenges for disabled persons in conventional interiors. With that in mind, graves says he is extremely proud to design two prototype homes for the Wounded Warrior project (left), which are homes for wounded veterans returning to active duty at Fort Belvoir in virginia. the homes allow for easy accessibility, whether one is in a wheelchair or has other mobility challenges. http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - January/February 2013

Contract - January/February 2013
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Briefs: Lighting
Product Focus: Bonaire and Buxom
Designer of the Year
Legend Award
34th annual interiors awards
Large Office
Small Office
Hotel
Restaurant
Healthcare
Education
Public Space
Showroom
Entertainment
Sustainable
Adaptive Reuse
Retail
Student
Designers Select: Tables and Desks
Sources
Ad Index
Public Interest Design
Perspective: Michael Graves on the Lost Art of Drawing

Contract - January/February 2013