Happy Birthday to the Saarinens! Design Words of Wisdom to Celebrate

Father and son architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen would have been 140 and 103, respectively, today (August 20). In honor of the iconic Saarinens' many accomplishments and contributions to modern architecture, city planning, design education, furniture and life, let's ponder a few of their words of wisdom that still stand true today.

In the 1922 Chicago Tribune Tower competition, Eliel Saarinen's soaring, stepped-back art deco entry gained him a lot of attention and went on to become a major architectural influence. Many believe he was robbed, for he came in second place. The next year he emigrated from Finland to the United States with wife Loja and son Eero, who was 13 at the time. The elder Saarinen went on to design the Cranbrook Educational Community, where he served as chief architect and taught, and took on the post of its president in 1932.

In 1942 Saarinen designed the first international-style building in Columbus, Indiana, which is now known for its vast collection of modern buildings by a stable of iconic architects, including his son. The First Christian Church, then known as the Tabernacle Church of Christ, was also one of the first modern churches built in the States. The simple, linear modern style caught much attention and marked the beginning of a movement from ornate Gothic to modern designs for churches. The building takes up a block and is now a National Historic Landmark.

"If a building is honest, the architecture is religious." — Eliel Saarinen


The City: Its Growth, Its Decay, Its Future, by Eliel Saarinen - $12.49 » The elder Saarinen always saw the big picture, as well as the medium-size picture and the vignette.

"Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context — a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan." — Eliel Saarinen


Eero Saarinen's popular and often-copied tulip-shaped chairs and tables have seats and tops perched atop stems, Saarinen's reaction to clutter. The iconic Pedestal Collection was introduced by Knoll in 1958.

"The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing unrestful world. I wanted to clear up the slum of legs. I wanted to make the chair all one thing again." — Eero Saarinen


Perhaps these words of Saarinen's were never more true than about The Miller House (commissioned in 1953), with its modern open plan, dynamic Alexander Girard textiles and stunning modern gardens designed by landscape architect Dan Kiley.

"The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man’s life on earth and to fulfill his belief in the nobility of his existence." — Eero Saarinen


With his boldest statement, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, one large gesture drawn just right became an instant icon.

"To me the drawn language is a very revealing language: one can see in a few lines whether a man is really an architect." — Eero Saarinen

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