Bruce John Graham (December 1, 1925 – March 6, 2010) was a Colombian-born Peruvian-American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Graham built buildings all over the world and was deeply involved with evolving the

Burnham Plan of Chicago The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 ''Plan of Chicago'' coauthored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett and published in 1909. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railr ...

. Among his most notable buildings are the Inland Steel Building, the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-storey, story, skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer F ...

(formerly the Sears Tower), and the

John Hancock Center 875 North Michigan Avenue (officially known until 2018 as the John Hancock Center and still commonly referred to under that name) is a 100- story, supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the ...

. He was also responsible for planning the

Broadgate Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the Bishopsgate area of the City of London. It is owned by British Land and GIC (Singaporean sovereign wealth fund), GIC and managed by British Land. History The original developer was a joint ...

and

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

developments in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Architectural historian Franz Schulze called him "the Burnham of his generation." He was a 1993 Pew Fellow.

Life

Born on December 1, 1925, in La Cumbre, Valle del Cauca,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Graham was the son of a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born father who was an international

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

er,Grimes, William. "Bruce J. Graham, Chicago Architect Who Designed Sears Tower, Dies at 84," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
/ref> and a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian mother. His first language was Spanish. He attended Colegio San Jose de

Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, and graduated in 1944. He studied at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

, Ohio, and Structural Engineering at the Case School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1948 with a degree in Architecture. When he first came to Chicago, he worked for

Holabird and Root Holabird is the name of various people and places, including: People * William S. Holabird ( – May 20, 1855), American lawyer, politician, and the 17th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. *William Holabird (September 11, 1854 – July 19, 1923) ...

and joined the Chicago office

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by enginee ...

, the largest architectural firm in the United States in 1951.

Career

During his 40-year tenure at SOM, Bruce Graham designed notable buildings all over the world from his home in Chicago, to Guatemala, Hong Kong, London, Cairo, and many other cities. He designed the

, tallest building in the world for nearly 36 years, the 100 story tall

One Shell Plaza One Shell Plaza (OSP) is a 50-story, skyscraper at 910 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston, Texas. Perched atop the building is an Antenna (radio), antenna that brings the pinnacle height of the building to . At its completion in 1971, the tow ...

etc. 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 Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

, Chryssa and Chillida, among others. He invited these artists to create public works of art for the city of Chicago. He believed that to create great work an architect should be informed by philosophy, history, music and literature.

Design philosophy

Graham had studied structural engineering at Case Western and brought that knowledge and respect of the structure of an edifice to all his buildings. The Hancock building in particular, uses structural design for esthetic expression. Graham later expressed this in Hotel Arts in Barcelona and many other buildings including his buildings in London at Broadgate. Bruce Graham firmly believed that architecture like dance and music were a combination of structure and beauty. He believed that these forms of art represented the highest achievements of culture. Like other forms of Art, Graham believed that architecture was a result and a reflection of the morals of the culture in which it was built. File:Sears Tower ss.jpg,

File:John Hancock Center 2.jpg,

File:Hotel Arts.jpg, Hotel Arts

England projects

Graham left a major influence on

, where he was responsible for designing the master plans for the massive

and

developments. He also designed nine buildings in London. Graham said, "We design our buildings for the inhabitants and for those who see them from the street. We try to design buildings that are a part of London, not in an imitation of period styles but an invention." File:Cabot Square, Canary Wharf - June 2008.jpg,

, view east from Cabot Square File:Canary Wharf Skyline 2, London UK - Oct 2012.jpg,

File:Broadgate Tower.jpg,

Major works

*1958 - Inland Steel Building, Chicago, Illinois, USA *1970 -

, Chicago, Illinois, USA *1973 -

Sears Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan ...

(renamed

), Wacker Drive, Chicago, USA *1973 - First Wisconsin Plaza, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA *1982 -

, London, England *1988 -

, London, England *1992 - Hotel Arts, Barcelona, Spain

Death

Graham died March 6, 2010, at the age of 84 in Hobe Sound, Florida. The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, said his son, George. Graham was buried at

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park R ...

next to

Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan (, ''Fazlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of Tube (structure) ...

. On October 14, 2010, Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward, dedicated the streets to the south and east sides of the

– 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 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

- between Chestnut and Delaware Streets.

References

External links

Architect of Willis Tower and John Hancock Center dies

Memorial Tribute to Fazlur Rahman Khan by Bruce Graham in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Bruce 1925 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century Canadian architects American people of Canadian descent American people of Peruvian descent Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Colegio San José alumni Colombian architects Colombian emigrants to the United States Colombian people of Canadian descent Colombian people of Peruvian descent University of Dayton alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni Harvard University faculty People from Bogotá People from Hobe Sound, Florida Peruvian architects Pew Fellows in the Arts Skyscraper architects