Eero Saarinen

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Eero Saarinen (August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his neo-futuristic style.

Saarinen is known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., the TWA Flight Center in New York City, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

He was the son of noted Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.

Early life and education

Eero Saarinen was born in Hvitträsk on August 20, 1910, to Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and his second wife, Louise, on his father's 37th birthday. They immigrated to the United States in 1923, when Eero was thirteen. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where his father taught and was dean of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and he took courses in sculpture and furniture design there. He had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, and became good friends with Florence Knoll (née Schust).

Saarinen began studies in sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France, in September 1929. He then went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934. Subsequently, he toured Europe for two years and returned to the United States in 1936 to work in his father's architectural practice.

Personal life

Saarinen became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940.

In 1939 Saarinen married the sculptor Lilian Swann. They had two children, Eric and Susan Saarinen. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1954. That same year Saarinen married Aline Bernstein Louchheim, an art critic at The New York Times. Saarinen had met Louchheim when she came to Detroit to interview him for his contributions to the recently-completed General Motors Technical Center. Saarinen and Louchheim had one son together who they named Eames after Saarinen's collaborator Charles Eames. In addition to their respective contributions to architecture, design, and criticism, Eero and Aline Saarinen are remembered for their affectionate and detailed personal papers, held at the Archives of American Art.

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Architectural career

Saarinen returned to Cranbrook to work for his father and teach at the academy after his tour of Europe and North Africa. His father's business, Saarinen, Swanson and Associates, was founded by Eliel Saarinen and Robert Swanson from the late 1930s to Eliel's death in 1950. The firm was headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, until 1961, when the firm was relocated to Hamden, Connecticut.

Saarinen first received acclaim while working for his father, for a chair conceived alongside Charles Eames for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition in 1940, where they received first prize. The Tulip chair, as well as other Saarinen chairs, was made by the Knoll furniture company, who married Saarinen family friend Florence (Schust) Knoll. While Saarinen was still caring for his father when he claimed first prize in the 1948 competition for the architecture of the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis, more attention was paid to him. The monument wasn't built before the 1960s. Since both he and his father had registered separately, the competition was mistakenly sent to his father. When the committee sent out a letter announcing that Saarinen had won the competition, it was mistakenly addressed to his father.

During his long relationship with Knoll, he created many important furniture, including the Grasshopper lounge chair and ottoman (1948), the Womb chair and ottoman (1950), and his most popular Tulip or Pedestal collection (1956), which included side and arm chairs, dining, coffee, and side tables, as well as a stool. All of these designs were extremely well-received except for the Grasshopper lounge chair, which, although in production since 1965, was not a big success.

The Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois (1940), one of Saarinen's oldest works to receive international recognition, is one of the school's oldest works to be recognized. The earliest major work by Saarinen, who worked with his father, was the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, which followed the rationalist design Miesian style of steel and glass but with the addition of accent panels in two shades of blue. The GM Technical Center was built in 1956, with Saarinen utilizing models, allowing him to share their ideas with others and seek feedback from other professionals.

Saarinen was then invited by other major American companies such as John Deere, IBM, and CBS to build their new headquarters or other large corporate buildings as a result of the success of this initiative. Despite the overall rational design philosophy, interiors often featured dramatic sweeping staircases as well as furniture designed by Saarinen, such as the Pedestal collection. He started getting more commissions from American universities for campus layouts and individual buildings in the 1950s. Birch Hall at Antioch College, the Noyes dormitory at Vassar and Hill College House at the University of Pennsylvania, Ezra Stiles & Morse Colleges at Yale University, the MIT Chapel, and the University of Chicago Law School's building and grounds are among the many buildings listed.

Saarinen served on the jury for the Sydney Opera House commission in 1957, and was instrumental in the selection of Jrn Utzon's new internationally known style. A jury that did not include Saarinen had rejected Utzon's plan in the first round; Saarinen reviewed the rejected plans, acknowledged a degree of Utzon's architecture, and subsequently guaranteed Utzon's commission.

Saarinen established Eero Saarinen and Associates after his father's death in July 1950. He was the main partner from 1950 to his death. The Bell Labs Holmdel Complex in Holmdel, Missouri; the Gateway Arch in Columbus, Missouri; and the new East Air Terminal of the old Athens Airport, which opened in 1967, were among the company's most notable projects, including the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex; the Boeing Building in Columbus, Indiana; and the TWA Flight Center in John F. Kennedy International Airport. Many of these projects use catenary curves in their structural plans.

Saarinen was recruited by then-new Brandeis University in 1949-50 to develop a master plan for the campus. Plan A Foundation for Learning in Saarinen, a design by A.M. Becker (second edition 1951), called for a central academic complex surrounded by residential quadrangles along a peripheral road. The scheme was never completed, but it was very effective at attracting donors. On campus, Saarinen did construct some buildings, including Ridgewood Quadrangle (1950), Sherman Student Center (1952) and Shapiro Dormitory at Hamilton Quadrangle (1952). They have all been demolished or substantially remodeled.

The Kresge Auditorium at MIT is one of America's best-known thin-shell concrete structures. Ingalls Rink, Yale's Ingalls Rink, has suspension cables connected to a single concrete backbone and is dubbed "the whale." His most prominent commission, the TWA Flight Center, comes from the culmination of his previous plans and his creativity for expressing the ultimate purpose of each building, which he describes as the "job style." The terminal was refurbished in 2019 to the TWA Hotel.

Saarinen and his father, Eliel Saarinen, designed the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York, together with his father, Eliel Saarinen. He also designed the Embassy of the United States in London, which opened in 1960, and Oslo's former Embassy.

Saarinen worked with his father, mother, and sister in designing various aspects of the Cranbrook School, Kingswood School, Cranbrook Art Academy, and the Cranbrook Science Institute. The leaded-glass windows of Eero Saarinen's buildings are a prominent feature of these buildings throughout campus.

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