Eero Saarinen - Biography, Architecture & Furniture

Eero Saarinen Architecture

Eero Saarinen's architecture was initially under the overwhelming influence of his father. After coming to the United States his father became a proponent of the austere functionalism of the International Style (in Finland he designed in a romantic style and his first buildings in the United States are also realized in this style). He followed the mantra of the first generation of modernist architects: form follows function. The joint projects of the Saarinens were, therefore, prime examples of the International Style and helped popularize it in the United States. The Saarinens were pioneers in the design and use of curtain walls, nonbearing walls of glass in steel frames, on a large scale.

Only in the last years of his father's life, did Eero Saarinen begin developing his own language of architecture. He worked mainly with the materials that were typical for the International Style his father adhered to such as steel, concrete, brick, and glass. In his designs, however, Eero Saarinen allowed for more artistic expression and skillfully used common materials to create novel visual effects. Their form did not necessarily follow function. In particular, the roofs of his buildings took on sculptural shapes which was made possible by the extensive use of reinforced concrete. Saarinen's later projects are often described as neo-futurist and he is sometimes regarded as one of the precursors of this style.

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis

Eero Saarinen's Buildings

The most famous Eero Saarinen works designed with his father include:

• Crow Island School in Winnetka (1930), Illinois
• First Christian Church (1942) in Columbus, Indiana
• Irwin Union Bank and Trust (1954) in Columbus, Indiana

The above-mentioned projects were designed in the International Style. They have flat roofs and large windows which allow for a lot of sunshine to enter the buildings' interiors.

Among Eero Saarinen's later projects that he designed alone are:

• Kresge Auditorium and chapel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1955) in Cambridge Massachusetts
• Trans World Airlines (TWA) terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport (1956-62) in New York City
• Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University (1958) in New Haven, Connecticut
• Dulles International Airport (1962)
• The Gateway Arch (1965) in St. Louis, Missouri

Later Eero Saarinen buildings took sculptural forms. They were particularly pronounced in the design of the terminal at the John F. Kennedy International Airport and the Ingalls Hockey Rink where reinforced concrete was used to create distinct, curvilinear rooftops.

Dulles International Airport

Eero Saarinen's Furniture

Eero Saarinen was not only a prominent architect but also an avid furniture designer. His furniture designs - mainly of chairs - similarly to his buildings, took sculptural rounded forms. He used fiberglass, aluminum, and plastic to achieve these effects. Eero Saarinen's famous works include:

• The Womb Chair and Settee (1948)
• The Organic Chair (1950)
• The Tulip Chair (1957)

Tulip Chair

Eero Saarinen's Legacy

Eero Saarinen was widely celebrated in the 1950s and 1960s. After his untimely death in 1961, however, both as a furniture designer and as an architect, Saarinen was largely forgotten. Nevertheless, many of his technological advancements, such as the improvements to the curtain walls, were used by the next generations of architects.

Only in the 1990s did Saarinen's works once again become widely known to the public. Saarinen with his focus on technological innovation and his optimistic vision of the future was in accord with the spirit of the time. Moreover, his buildings shared many similarities with the deconstructivist architecture that, at the time, triumphed and Saarinen is sometimes viewed as the predecessor of deconstructivists. In the 1990s, Saarinen's furniture design enjoyed a revival.

Lesson Summary

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) was a Finnish-born American architect and furniture designer. He belonged to the second generation of modernist architects who departed from the mantra of the first generation 'form follows function'. In his designs, Eero Saarinen used common materials typical for modernist architecture such as steel, glass, and concrete to create buildings with complex, rounded, and striking sculptural forms. With regard to furniture designs, such as the Womb Chair or Tulip Chair, he used fiberglass and plastic to create curvilinear shapes.

Initially, Eero Saarinen was working with his father, a famous architect Eliel Saarinen who was a proponent of the International Style. His early works, such as the First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana, were designed jointly with his father and, hence, are constructed in an austere, functionalist style. His later architectural projects, such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis or Ingalls Hockey Rink - as well as his furniture are often described as neo-futurist.