The creator of the ubiquitous
Knoll “Tulip” chairs and tables,
Eero Saarinen (1910–1961) was one of the
20th century’s most prominent space shapers, merging dynamic forms with a modernist sensibility across architecture and design.
Among
Saarinen’s greatest accomplishments are
Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport, the very sculptural and fluid
TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York, and the 630 ft. (192 m) high
Gateway Arch of St. Louis, Missouri, each of them defining structures of postwar America. Catenary curves were present in many of his structural designs. During his long association with Knoll,
Saarinen’s other
famous furniture pieces included the “Grasshopper” lounge chair and the “Womb” settee. Married to Aline Bernstein
Saarinen, a well-known critic of art and architecture,
Saarinen also collaborated with Charles Eames, with whom he designed his first prize-winning chair.
With rich illustration tracing his life and career, this introduction follows
Saarinen from his studies across his training all the way to his most prestigious projects, and explores how each of his designs brought a
new dimension to the modernist landscape.
