Eero Saarinen | Museum of the City of New York

I'm a fan a mid-century design, and a major figure in that period is architect/designer Eero Saarinen.  The Museum of the City of New York has a comprehensive survey of Saarinen's work featuring models, films, photographs, documents (his high school yearbook and passport), sketches, drawings, and samples of his famous furniture designs.  Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) was a celebrated and controversial architect who lent his unique vision and space-age, mid-century style to some unlikely clients like corporate headquarters, universities, and airport terminals. 

Saarinen "sought to expand modernism's vocabulary beyond what he called 'the measly ABC'.... He also frequently moved away from simple, abstract compositions in favor of exuberant visual effects and historical references" utilizing "new materials, innovative construction techniques, and sculptural forms" (from eerosaarinen.net).  Saarinen believed in a "total environment" and through collaborations with friends and associates, his works successfully "synthesiz[e] architecture, landscape, and interior design."  Though Saarinen was surprisingly criticized for "inventing a new style for every job" (that's a bad thing?), "his diverse and sometimes unabashedly theatrical designs attracted powerful clients who played pivotal roles in trends that transformed the culture of the time."

Born in Finland in 1910, Saarinen's creative family emigrated to the United States in 1923. His father, Eliel, was a world-renowned architect, his mother, Louise, was a textile designer and sculptor, and his older sister, Eva-Lisa, was a designer and interior decorator.  Eero graduated Baldwin High School in Birmingham, Michigan in 1929.  He studied sculpture in Paris at the age of 19 and received his BFA in architecture in 3 years from Yale, graduating one year early in 1934.  After graduation, Saarinen traveled the world, visiting architectural landmarks in Europe, Egypt, and Mexico.  Early in his career, Saarinen worked alongside his father until the elder Saarinen passed away in 1950.  One of their most successful projects was their "1939 winning submission for the prestigious Smithsonian Gallery of Art to be built on the Mall in Washington, D.C." which unfortunately was never realized.  As if he wasn't busy enough, Saarinen also collaborated with designer Charles Eames and created some iconic pieces of furniture.

Saarinen understood "architecture’s value in creating a company’s image, often using new building technologies to help brand forward thinking corporations."  Eero Saarinen and Associates based in Bloomfield, Hills, Michigan (which was rumored to be open 24 hours, 7 days a week) "designed the first mirror glass curtain wall and the world’s thinnest exterior wall panel.  Saarinen also pioneered, and ultimately mastered, the development of a new office typology: the corporate campus. Occupying pristine rural settings, these business complexes reinvented the traditional country estate and the American college campus in terms of modern corporate programs, similarly evoking power and authority." General Motors Technical Center in Warren Michigan, completed in 1956 and composed of 25 buildings, was Saarinen’s first example of this model [IBM's Manufacturing and Training facility in Rochester, Minnesota (1956-58) and Deere and Company's Administrative Center in Moline, Illnois (1957-63) followed].  For college campuses, like Yale, Vassar, and Brandeis, Saarinen sought "to balance student comfort and privacy with amenities that encouraged social interaction."

Probably best known for works like the United States Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (or the St Louis Gateway Arch), JFK’s Trans World Airlines Terminal, Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport Terminal, and New York City's CBS Building (his only completed skyscraper at 38 stories), as well as his pedestal tables and chairs, Saarinen has undoubtedly created some of the 20th-century's most iconic structures. His designs have stood the test of time and are still breath-taking today.  It's hard to imagine how progressive and extraordinary his works must have seemed back when they were first introduced.  Eero Saarinen was a daring, visionary, brilliant talent.  Learn much more at eerosaarinen.net (where I found most of the info for this post) and mcny.org.  Ends soon on January 31st.

Model of the CBS Building, New York, 1960-65

Model of David S. Ingalls Hockey Rink, Yale University, 1956-58

Model of Dulles International Airport Terminal Model, Washington, D.C., 1958-63

Photo of an interior stairway at General Motor's Technical Center, Warren, Michigan, 1949-55

Photo of one of the few residences Saarinen created, The Miller House, Columbus, Indiana, 1953-57

Photo of TWA Terminal's rear elevation viewed from tarmac, by Ezra Stoller, 1962

Rendering of lounge of TWA Terminal by Eero Saarinen and Associates, circa 1956

Model of TWA Terminal, JFK Airport, 1956-62

Rendering of an unrealized transport system for U.S. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, no date

Photos of Eero Saarinen with model of the U.S. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial by Renyold Ferguson, circa 1958

Model of winning submission for Smithsonian Gallery of Art competition, Washington D.C., 1939, unbuilt

Womb chair and ottoman, 1964-1965

Grasshopper Chair, 1946 (front) and High-back armchair (behind) by Saarinen and Charles Eames, winner of MoMA's Organic Design in Home Furnishings Competition in 1940

Storage unit, by Saarinen and Charles Eames, 1941 (from The Future at Home: American Furniture, 1940-1955 exhibition, also at MCNY)

Knoll Associates advert for a pedestal chair

Comments

[כורסת המתנה]

Beautiful design and architecture! I like your design of buildings. Stay up the good work! Great job done by you.

[שולחנות מנהלים]

Wonderful architecture shared here. It's really touch the heart!! It's looking very beautiful. Thank you for this fascinating post!

[showerscreens]

Buildings come in a wide amount of shapes and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, to land prices, ground conditions, specific uses and aesthetic reasons....

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Glass showcases are one of the most popular glass furniture that are used in living room. You can place artifacts and decorative pieces in the glass showcases.

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So is rural or urban life more sustainable? The question itself is probably misleading. Just as it is apparent that cities will have major difficulties in the coming years, it is also obvious that striking out for the wilderness on one’s own alone is naïve; very few people are actually able to be completely self-sufficient, even if they are able to tolerate living that way.

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some fantastic models from Eero Saarinen, I esspecially like the Model of David S. Ingalls Hockey Rink, http://upvcwindowssite.com/

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seek information about what the college and I need to submit my academic and social expectations and economic, thanks for sharing the information. I think new york has large global institutions and from there my interest from schools in one of these.

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I am looking for new updates, dying to read more stuff about this museum...