Bruce Graham

Bruce Graham is an American architect. Among his most notable buildings are the Sears Tower, the Inland Steel Building, and the John Hancock Center. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia of American parents in 1925. 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. For the majority of his career he headed the Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the largest architectural firm in the United States. 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 S.O.M Foundation. He also taught an Architectural studio at Harvard. Bruce Graham was a great collector of Art. He befriended Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, 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 was an avid reader and traveler.