a whimsical twist on the classical designs that he had
learned to love during his early studies in Italy.
In 1998, Target stores announced an exclusive
Michael Graves line of home products, including
closet organizers, teakettles, and laundry baskets.
Graves proclaimed that good design should be ac-
cessible to everyone. The line proved immensely
successful with Target shoppers, paving the way for
other “class” designers to partner with stores that
served the masses. Graves’s products made him a
household name as well as a presence in peoples’
kitchens, and he raised Target’s prestige and stock
price.
Graves owns a special etching machine to auto-
graph his more expensive products, which appreci-
ate in value. He has designed china and silverware
for Italian manufacturer Alessi, packaging for a new
corporate image for Lenox china, a coffeemaker
for a third company, and blankets and throws with
another partner. He was awarded the National
Medal of Arts in 1999 and the Gold Medal of the
American Institute of Architects in 2001. He main-
tains his design firms and store in Princeton, New
Jersey.
Impact Michael Graves filled a major niche in mod-
ern architecture and high-quality design. Graves
and his contemporaries, who have been criticized
for their celebrity client lists and popular appeal,
have informed the work of some younger architects.
Further Reading
Eisenman, Peter, et al. Five Architects: Eisenman,
Graves, Gwathmey, Hejduk, Meier.New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1975.
Frampton, Kenneth.Modern Architecture: A Critical
Histor y. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992.
Patton, Phil.Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Ev-
er yday Object. New York: Melcher Media, 2004.
Jan Hall
See also Architecture; Art movements; Fashions
and clothing; Gehry, Frank; Stewart, Martha.
Greenspan, Alan
Identification American economist and chairman
of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve system, 1987-2006
Born March 6, 1926; New York, New York
Greenspan was the longest-serving chairman of the Federal
Reserve, serving throughout the decade of the 1990’s and
steering the economy through one of the longest bull markets
in living histor y into what became the dot-com bubble.
Alan Greenspan began the 1990’s in his third year as
chairman of the Federal Reserve, which made him
arguably the single most influential force on the U.S.
financial markets. The Federal Reserve sets the fed-
eral fund rate, which affects the rate at which banks
can borrow from each other, which in turn influ-
ences the prime rate (typically 3 percent higher than
the federal rate).
In 1991, Greenspan was faced with a scandal at
Salomon Brothers, whose bond-trading division un-
der the leadership of the notorious John Meriwether
was caught submitting false bids to the U.S. Trea-The Nineties in America Greenspan, Alan 381
Alan Greenspan.(AP/Wide World Photos)