"I see architecture not as Gropius did, as a moral venture, as truth, but as invention, in the same way that poetry or music or painting is invention"

Michael Graves draws a distinct line between the functionalist, ethically charged understanding of architecture championed by Walter Gropius and his own, more liberating view. Gropius, as a leader of the Bauhaus movement, saw architecture as an instrument of moral duty, truth, and social progress, something wrapped up in ideals like honesty of materials, utility, and serving greater societal needs. Graves acknowledges the gravity of this perspective but distances himself from it, suggesting that such a rigid position might constrain creativity and the experiential dimensions of building.

For Graves, architecture belongs within the sphere of creative arts, akin to poetry, music, or painting. In the realm of poetry, invention arises not only from adhering to form or expressing literal truths but in the imaginative synthesis of language, rhythm, and meaning. Music invents new worlds through melody, harmony, and structure; painting does so through color, abstraction, and symbolism. Graves argues that architecture shares this inventive spirit: buildings need not merely declare a functional or ethical 'truth', they are opportunities for aesthetic innovation, playfulness, and evocation.

He posits that while ethical considerations are important, they are not the sole dimensions by which buildings attain value or meaning. The inventive, imaginative qualities of architecture can stir emotion, provoke thought, or reshape our sense of place and possibility. Just as great poetry might bend the rules of grammar for expressive effect, Graves urges architects to explore beyond conventional limits, to invent spaces that surprise or delight, that instigate a dialogue between history, context, material, and the senses.

Ultimately, Graves’s statement liberates architecture from a monolithic idea of being strictly 'moral' or 'truthful,' opening it to the same interpretive, transformative, and imaginative potentials recognized in the other fine arts, and encouraging architects to see themselves as inventors, not simply as servants to function or social ideology.