Michael Graves' brave new world

Architect Michael Graves is the first to admit that his new life is challenging. In 2003, the internationally renowned "starchitect" -- best known in the Twin Cities for his additions to the Children's Theatre Company and Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and his distinctive line of affordable housewares for Target -- got a virus. The infection spread to his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Then 68 years old, Graves suddenly found himself at the mercy of badly designed medical products, as well as what he often refers to as the "stupid room" -- patient rooms in the hospital and at the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in New Jersey where he spent the first months of his new life learning to live from a wheelchair.

In articles and speaking engagements, Graves has consistently intoned against tables and sinks too low for wheelchair arms to slide under; shelves too deep to access stuff at the back; drawers, light switches and window-blind cords out of reach. He told the New York Times, "These are simple things. I'm not even talking about how ugly [the room] is."

Courage Center in Golden Valley has been paying attention. The nonprofit rehabilitation center recently bestowed its National Courage Award on the architect. The award recognizes individuals who, either personally or professionally, have made significant contributions to the health, welfare and rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

Previous recipients include Erik Weihenmayer (the first blind person to climb Mount Everest), former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Emmy Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry and the late Christopher Reeve.

Facility critique

During a tour of Courage Center's facilities the following morning, Graves was both jocular and subdued, opinionated yet humble. He underscored the importance of having a therapy pool within the center and smiled in the children's colorful play area. But he couldn't get his wheelchair underneath the sink in a residential room, and quietly scoffed at its "design by experts." He asked Karen Nichols, a partner in his architectural firm, if she'd noticed the ceilings: "Visual chaos," he murmured.

Such comments led to several discussions with Courage Center CEO Jan Malcolm about nonprofit budgets, and the need for radical changes in the insurance industry that would address better design and preventive care for people with disabilities. Later, when asked for his thoughts on the design of Courage Center, Graves firmly replied, "I'm not here to be negative. It's such a blessing that the Twin Cities has this kind of resource."

What also awed him was the award ceremony the night before. "I couldn't believe the 1,000-some people -- most of them able-bodied -- who came to the party last night," he said. He also recalled how a woman had emphasized to him how important it was for Graves to be a spokesman for people with disabilities.

"This is a whole new world for me," he said of his new roster of speaking engagements as a celebrity with a disability. "It's only been four and a half years [since his illness]."

Buildings to heating pads

Graves' design business, based in Princeton, N.J., has hardly been idle. Michael Graves and Associates (the architecture, planning and interior design section) continues to design buildings around the world. Meanwhile, the Michael Graves Design Group (which focuses on graphic and product design) has redesigned several products for Drive Medical Design & Manufacturing of Port Washington, N.Y.

"They basically gave us their product book and asked to redesign everything. What a golden opportunity," Graves said. Of the new line, called Michael Graves Solutions, the heating pad is ready to enter the market, Graves reports.

When he's not traveling between his offices and home in his wheelchair or via his I-Bot (which can climb stairs), Graves has been occupied with redesigning his home. He hasn't yet tackled his bed, however. "It's a hospital bed with metal bars on the side, which I've left there because I can exercise with them," Graves explained. "But I'm also leaving this bed here as a reminder to me that it needs to be redesigned."

He's also looking for a developer and site in which he could design a residential community for both able-bodied and disabled people. "I have a son with learning disabilities, and his mother is worried about what will happen to him when she's gone," he explained. "If they could live in such a community, after she'd passed on, he could continue to live there with his friends."

Graves also wants to design a hybrid wheelchair/I-Bot "that does everything this chair does" (the architect needs to recline at least four times a day to relieve pressure on his lower back) and climbs stairs like the I-Bot. "And at a good price," he quickly added, ever aware not only of his status as a disabled person, but also as the architect who ushered in Target's design-for-all democracy.

Camille LeFevre is a freelance writer based in the Twin Cities.