PLAZA

Plaza is an “indoor skyscraper” designed by one of the most outstanding Postmodern architects: Michael Graves. The name comes from the famous Plaza Hotel in New York, while the “skyline” is an explicit reference to the giants created by Graves in the Big Apple, such as the Humana Building. An Art Deco influence sets the tone of the piece, while the bright stars suggest the glamorous imagery of Hollywood celebrities and the films of Busby Berkeley.

An iconic temple of beauty, Plaza is a dressing table in lacquered wood, clad with parts in natural wood, glass and brass. The central mirror is circular and adjustable, flanked by two round lamps. The velvet swivel stool and the top placed on six drawers stand out for their particular gray-green tone.

 An immediate cult object, Plaza is one of the few items designed by Michael Graves for Memphis, and is included in the design collections of many important museums: LACMA in Los Angeles, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Michael Graves was an American architect and designer, a member of the influential New York Five architectural group. Graves studied at Harvard University in Cambridge and founded his own studio in 1964, designing modernist private homes. It was in the 1970s that he embraced the postmodernist style. Graves participated in exhibitions in Memphis with the Plaza dressing table in 1981 and the Stanhope bed in 1982. He is known for designing structures such as the Portland Building, the Humana Building in Louisville, and the Indianapolis Art Center. He also designed the restoration of the Washington Monument. While Graves' architectural work was focused on North America, his design objects achieved enormous international acclaim.

W 140, D 54, H 226 cm; 195 kg