Leading architect appointed to new Obama administration

Leading architect and designer Michael Graves has joined President Obama’s new administration. Graves, who is a wheelchair user, has been appointed to the United States’ Access Board, an independent Federal agency that provides leadership in accessible design. He said: “I am honoured to have been appointed to the United States Access Board by President Obama. When I became paralyzed, I realized that as an architect and designer, and then a patient, I had a unique perspective. As a result, I became passionate about using this perspective to improve healthcare and accessibility through design projects.”

Graves, has been credited with broadening the role of the architect in society and raising public interest in good design as essential to the quality of everyday life. He is the founding principal of Michael Graves & Associates, an architecture and design firm that he founded in 1964, and of Michael Graves Design Group.

He is also the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, Emeritus at Princeton University, where he taught for nearly 40 years. Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Healthcare Design by the Center for Health Design in 2010, he is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome.

He said that as a member of the Access Board: “I expect to provide national leadership on accessible design, and hope I can contribute on a grand scale. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board in pursuit of this important mission.”