Life
Born on December 1, 1925 in La Cumbre, Colombia, Graham was the son of a Canadian-born father who was an international banker, and a Peruvian mother. His first language was Spanish. He attended Colegio San Jose de Rio Piedras, in Puerto Rico and graduated in 1944. He studied at the University of Dayton, Ohio and at the Case School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948 with a degree in architecture. When he first came to Chicago, he worked for Holabird and Root and joined the Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the largest architectural firm in the United States in 1951. He later headed that office and was a long time friend of Mies van der Rohe. He was deeply involved with many aspects of developing the city of Chicago, from city planning, bringing great public art to the city and involvement in individual projects. Bruce Graham built extensively all over the world from his home in Chicago, to Guatemala, Hong Kong, London, Cairo, and many other cities. He was extremely involved with the University of Pennsylvania, especially the School of Fine Arts. He believed that teachers of Architecture should be currently involved in its practice. He was committed to the study of Architectural Theory and started the SOM Foundation. He also taught an Architectural studio at Harvard. Graham was a great collector of Art. He befriended Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, Chryssa and Chillida, to name a few. He invited these artists to create public works of Art for the city of Chicago. He believed that the architect should be informed by philosophy, history, music and literature to build great monuments. He wa Bruce died on March 6, 2010 at the age of 84 in Hobe Sound, Florida.
On October 14, 2010, Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward, dedicated the streets to the south and east sides of the John Hancock Center – one of Graham’s most iconic achievements – as Honorary Bruce J. Graham Way. It runs along Chestnut Street between Mies van der Rohe Street and Michigan Avenue and along Mies van der Rohe Street – named after famed architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - between Chestnut and Delaware Streets.
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Famous quotes containing the word life:
“Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering must become Love. That is the mystery.”
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923)
“There is a delicate balance of putting yourself last and not being a doormat and thinking of yourself first and not coming off as selfish, arrogant, or bossy. We spend the majority of our lives attempting to perfect this balance. When we are successful, we have many close, healthy relationships. When we are unsuccessful, we suffer the natural consequences of damaged and sometimes broken relationships. Children are just beginning their journey on this important life lesson.”
—Cindy L. Teachey. “Building Lifelong Relationships—School Age Programs at Work,” Child Care Exchange (January 1994)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)