BACKGROUND: A Finnish-born international architect
Architect Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950), who designed Hvitträsk and the Helsinki Railway Station, won the second prize in the Chicago Tribune Tower architectural competition in 1922, and began to receive orders from the United States. The Saarinen family, or wife Loja and children Pipsa and Eero, moved from Hvitträsk to the U.S. in 1923.
Eero Saarinen (1910–1961), who was born in Kirkkonummi, studied to become an architect at Yale. He became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 1940.
Eero Saarinen first worked with his father Eliel Saarinen in 1937–50, and later as an independent architect.
His career as an independent architect was short-lived, spanning only some ten years, as Eero Saarinen died suddenly. He was very productive, however.
Eero Saarinen’s breakthrough and professional parting with his father came in 1949 when he won the competition for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Eliel also took part in the competition, but Eero's plans for a sweeping 630-foot high arch convinced the judges. It remains the tallest monument in the United States.
Bringing the General Motors technical centre in Michigan to completion in 1955 was Eero Saarinen’s first large project. The work was started by father Eliel.
In 1952-56, Eero Saarinen designed the chapel and Kresge Auditorium of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among other buildings here. His other work includes the Milwaukee War Memorial Center, the TWA terminal at the J.F.K. International Airport in New York, as well as the U.S. Embassies in London and Oslo.
Eero Saarinen is also known for his work in furniture design, where he used moulded sheet or plastic as materials.
Saarinen was a judge in the competition for the Sydney Opera House, and thus contributed to the selection of Jörn Utzon’s winning proposal.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 9.10.2004
More on this subject:
 Eero Saarinen - the builder of an American Utopia
Links:
Eero Saarinen on Greatbuildings.com
Helsingin Sanomat
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