Michael Graves: Gold Medal Kid

Michael Graves, the architect and designer whose 150-piece Michael Graves Design Collection has been a hot seller and image-breaker since it was introduced in Target stores last year, has won the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects. He is the 58th recipient of the AIA's highest prize, and will receive it at a reception in Washington, D.C., on February 16.

Even before his line for Target was introduced, Graves was known for designing telephones, toasters and whistling tea kettles as part of a houseware and interior design products collection. He has also designed the Disney corporate offices in Burbank, Calif., the Humana Tower in Louisville, the Riverbend Music Center and University of Cincinnati Engineering Research Center in Cincinnati (where he went to school) and the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport at The Hague.

Graves has offices in New York and Princeton, N.J. (where he has taught in the architecture school at Princeton University for 38 years).