Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen (1910–1961) was born in Finland to the architect Eliel Saarinen and textile artist Loja Saarinen; the family emigrated to the United States in 1923, and he grew up at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where his father was…

Biography

Background

Eero Saarinen (1910–1961) was born in Finland to the architect Eliel Saarinen and textile artist Loja Saarinen; the family emigrated to the United States in 1923, and he grew up at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where his father was director. He studied sculpture in Paris (1929) and architecture at Yale (graduating 1934), then returned to Cranbrook to teach, design furniture and practise architecture with his father.

Signature Style

Known for being obsessed with revision, Saarinen took a sculptural approach, building hundreds of models and full-scale mock-ups to find the perfect curve and proportion. His furniture used modern materials in graceful, organic shapes, and as a leader of the second-generation modernists he expanded the modern vocabulary with curvilinear forms.

Notable Works

Moulded plywood chairs with Charles Eames – first prize, MoMA 'Organic Design in Home Furnishings' (1940)
Womb Chair (1948), 70 Series seating, Tulip / Pedestal Collection (1956–58) for Knoll
Gateway Arch (St. Louis), TWA Flight Center (JFK), Dulles Airport terminal, CBS headquarters

Legacy

A lifelong, sibling-like friend of Florence Knoll from Cranbrook, he designed many of Knoll's most recognisable pieces in its formative years. He died in 1961; he was awarded the AIA Gold Medal posthumously (1962).