Designer of the Month: Eero Saarinen

Week 4: the Miller House in Indiana and the TWA Terminal

As promised, for this last week's look at Eero Saarinen's architecture, I'm going to take you in two very different directions: first, to one of Saarinen's most notable domestic structure and then to New York for what is, if not the most famous airline terminal, than at least the most recognizable.

Miller house, Columbus, Indiana, 1953-57. Exterior detail. Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

While Saarinen had designed private residences before Irwin Miller's commission in 1953, as images of the Miller House in Columbus, Indiana home show, its elegant composition and richness of detail make it one of Saarinen's major achievements.[1] This building, completed in 1957, underscores Saarinen's ability to advance modernist ideas of the time, such as the concept of the open floor plan, continuity between exterior and interior design elements and the use of industrial building methods and materials in residential architecture, while, with its ample budget, similarly served as a showcase for Saarinen to work on a grand scale, with rich materials.[2] The house is a fantastic example of Saarinen's search for a total environment, involving numerous collaborations and combining not only architecture, but landscape and interior design as well.[3]

Miller house, Columbus, Indiana, 1953-57. Living Area. Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

Is that not the most incredibly lush living room you've ever seen? Designed largely as an open pavilion with private suites at each corner, Saarinen placed spare steel columns that terminated in open capitals, which were linked to regularly spaced skylights, creating an effect where the light itself delineates different parts of the house.[4] In this way, the open floor plan could remain open, suggesting separate spaces without the actual physical barriers. Saarinen collaborated with designer Alexander Girard to create the interiors, for which seasonal moods were effected with changeable covers and accessories, and Dan Kiley on the expansive gardens.[5]

The New York Times Magazine, "Look: The T.W.A. Terminal Reborn." Photograph by David Leventi.

Although Saarinen truly went above and beyond in his design for the Miller House, it was with his 1956 commission for the Trans World Airlines Terminal (TWA) at John F. Kennedy Airport (originally, Idlewild) in New York that provided him the opportunity to address building types that were not only new for his firm, but that were relatively new to architecture in general.[6] It was such a notable work in terms of Saarinen's exploration of plastic form that critic Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. described it as "one of the crisp peaks...of modern architecture...[and] the best testimony why, when Saarinen died, architecture lost one of its chief American masters."[7]

 Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy (originally Idlewild) Airport, New York, New York, 1956-62. Model in construction. Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

As Saarinen explained of this design:

The challenge of the Trans World Airlines terminal was twofold. One, to create, within the complex of terminals that makes up Idlewild, a building for TWA which would be distinctive and memorable...

Two, to design a building in which the architecture itself would express the drama and specialness and excitement of travel. Thus, we wanted the architecture to reveal the terminal, not as a static, enclosed place, but as a place of movement and transition.

Therefore, we arrived at this structure, which consists essentially of four interacting barrel vaults of slightly different shapes, supported on four Y-shaped columns. Together, these vaults make a vast concrete shell, fifty feet high and 315 feel long, which makes a huge umbrella over all the passenger areas....we wanted an uplift. For the same reason, the structural shapes of the columns were dramatized to stress their upward-curving sweep. The bands of skylights, which separate and articulate the four vaults, increase the sense of airiness and lightness.[8]

While certainly cutting-edge in both concept and form, nothing about the project ever quite worked out as planned. Movement problems plagued the operational premise upon which the building had been conceived, causing moving pavements to be discarded and bridgeways completed as simple tunnels.[9] Even the concrete shells didn't work out as planned, with necessary changes making the building heavier, and steel balustrades with closely packed rails breaking up the flow of space in the interior.[10] Nevertheless, it was a grand structure when finally completed in 1962, just one year after Saarinen's death.

 

Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy (originally Idlewild) Airport, New York, New York, 1956-62. Interior. Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

TWA halted operations in 2001, at which point the terminal was shuttered.[11] Three years ago, however, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began a $20 million renovation on the terminal that was recently completed, and are specifically looking for a hotel to fill the grand space.[12] 


[1] David G. De Long, "Introduction: Rediscovering Eero Saarinen," in Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, ed. David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008), 14.


[2] Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future online, "Envisioning Modern Life," http://www.eerosaarinen.net/envisioning.shtml, (accessed April 27, 2011).


[3] Ibid.


[4] David G. De Long, "Introduction: Rediscovering Eero Saarinen," in Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, ed. David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008), 14.


[5] Ibid., 14.


[6] Ibid., 16.


[7] Ibid., 17.


[8] Eero Saarinen, "Architects and Architecture," in Eero Saarinen On His Work, ed. Aline B. Saarinen, (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1962), 60.


[9] Rupert Spade, "Introduction," Library of Contemporary Architects: Eero Saarinen (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971), 18.

[10] Ibid., 18.


[11] Tony Gervino, "Look: The T.W.A. Terminal Reborn," in The New York Times Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/20/magazine/look-twa-terminal.html?ref=kennedyinternationalairportnyc (accessed April 18, 2011). 

[12] Ibid.

Fro Design Co - mario propaganda

Propaganda posters have a long and fascinating history that I'm not going to get into today, suffice it to say that they're one of those topics - along with World's Fairs, the Bauhaus and both the European and American Arts and Crafts Movements - that I know way too much about. So when someone like LA-based graphic artist/web designer Fro does as nice a job of combining propaganda posters and one of the greatest video games of all time to create Mario Propaganda, then you know that I'm going to be pretty darn thrilled about it. And yes, these bad boys are available to purchase.

(Via Public School)

llama font

I almost can't handle the awesomeness that is llama font, which was created by Avery Oldfield and Jack Inscoe. Because everybody loves llamas.

Go on, you know you want to try it for yourself.

(Via swissmiss)

Fred Eerdekens

Belgian artist Fred Eerdekens likes to play with words, but in a slightly different manner than many other artists out there. Using light and shadow in conjunction with what, at first, appear to be either random or very simple arrangements of materials, Eerdekens creates sculptures that spell out different words and phrases. And we're not talking about mere typography either - many of the works require the viewer to stand in just the right spot in order for the message to appear.

Check out more of Eerdekens' work on his website.

(Via design milk)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the making waves edition}

This large cork jar with wave design, by paulova.

Raeburn Ink's geology wave tee.

A sailboat and fish automation in a glass jar, from cartoonmonster.

One of one stone new york's pretty wave rings.

And a wave pillowcase from Pata Pri.

become someone else

Don't you just love these print ads? Appropriately, they're for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, by the Lithuanian agency Love. As they explain of their inspiration:

When one reads books, he/she starts living it and identifies (or not) with main hero. These print ads for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, which sells lots of classics, focuses on the idea of becoming someone else. And provokes people to try on different personas.

Very cool concept.

(Via Black*Eiffel)

mill hill converted church

Usually, when architects are asked to convert churches into residences, they're dealing with single family homes. Today, however, I bring you Mill Hill, a church in Sydney, Australia, that Baker Kavanagh Architectures turned into two luxury apartments, planned around internal courtyards. The effect, as you probably already guessed, is absolutely stunning.

And just like my other architectural obsession, I've now added converted churches as a blog tag, just in case you wanted to see them all in one place.

(Via desire to inspire)

Designer of the Month: Eero Saarinen

Week 3: The St. Louis Gateway Arch and MIT Auditorium and Chapel

In 1947, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, despite working out of the same architectural firm, submitted independent entries in the competition to design the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.[1] Rising to a height of 630 feet, Eero's winning design, which would come to be known as the St. Louis Gateway Arch, was celebrated for its lithe, celebratory, and thoroughly modern-feeling design.[2] In contrast, Eero's father's design recalled a larger scaled version of an earlier solution for the open entrance pavilion joining the Cranbrook Museum and Library; while both modern in their design, Eero's solution spoke to a newer sort of modernism, with it as the first design that truly separated Saarinen from his father.[3]

 

The St. Louis Gateway Arch. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

Although designed in 1947, Saarinen had to wait 10 years - until 1958, for a railway to be relocated - before work could begin.[4] As Saarinen explains about his choice of design:

In 1948, we won the national competition for a new national park in St. Louis, symbolizing and commemorating the westward expansion of America. The major concern here was to create a monument which would have lasting significance and would be a landmark of our time. An absolutely simple shape - such as the Egyptian pyramids or obelisks - seemed to be the basis of the great memorials that have kept their significance and dignity across time. Neither an obelisk nor a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on the site or for this purpose. But here, at the edge of the Mississippi river, a great arch did seem right...Having arrived at a shape that seemed to have permanence and to belong to our time, what material would also fulfill these two qualities? Stainless steel seemed the inevitable answer - and so we decided on stainless steel with a concrete core.[5]

Clearly, this was a man with a vision. Beneath the arch, Saarinen built a monumental stair that echoes the curve of the arch above.  As you can see in the image below, with his characteristic attention to detail, had a full-scale model built adjacent to his office, so as to be able to test its unusual profile himself.[6]

"Saint Louis Gateway Arch (originally Jefferson National Expansion Memorial), Saint Louis, Missouri, 1947-65; dedicated, 1968. Mock-up of stair." Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

Although the St. Louis Gateway Arch helped cement Saarinen's fame, with the design long celebrated before it was able to be built and finally completed in 1965, it was two quite different 1950 commissions where Saarinen proved his work, proving that he could create designs that would be striking departures from the orthodox modernism of his father's age.[7] Saarinen's designs for the Kresge Auditorium and Chapel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) drew widespread attention, helping to establish him as a major architectural innovator.[8]

"Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kresge Auditorium and Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950-55. Aerial view." Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

Completed in 1956, the pair of buildings were geometrically based, with the auditorium a thin concrete shell derived from a one-eighth part of a sphere, while the chapel was designed as a brick cylinder with a blind-arched base and a superimposed tripod belfry and spire.[9] In Saarinen's own words:

Here, the site, in the middle of crowded city campus, was surrounded by 'man-made' nature of building about six storeys high, buildings which were essentially boxes with holes pierced in them all around. The questions was how to relate the auditorium to these buildings...We believed hat what was required was a contrasting silhouette, a form which started from the ground and went up, carrying the eye around its sweeping shape. Thus, a domed structure seemed right...The chapel present quite a different problem. After many experiments, exploring different shapes in the site plan, the round cylindrical form seemed right...We made many designs searching for the right form and the right proportion for the bell-tower. I believe that the architect has to determine the basic form and mass and scale of such elements. But since such a spire was really something halfway between architecture and sculpture, we felt that a sculptor who would be sympathetic to the architectural problem as we saw it could bring to the spire a special sensitivity. I think Theodore Roszak has done this job extremely well.[10]

"Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kresge Auditorium and Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950-55. Auditorium with Chapel in foreground." Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

As can be seen in the image above, although striking in its design, neither the triangular shape that Saarinen had believed ideal for an auditorium nor the domed roof turned out to be acoustically effective, and later modifications had to be made.[11] His design for the Chapel, however, not only proved more workable, but judging by accounts from the time, and as can be seen in the image below, its interior was truly captivating.[12] As David G. De Long explains in his introduction to the book Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, "It seemed to achieve the very atmosphere of timelessness that Saarinen sought, one detached from a standard modernist vocabulary and sensuously evocative without recourse to specific historical quotation. A single skylight animates an alter screen by Harry Bertoia, and glazed segments of the floor at the perimeter, behind a low, undulating wall, produce a subdued, flickering glow."[13]

 "Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kresge Auditorium and Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950-55. Chapel interior." Photographer Balthazar Korab. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

[1] David G. De Long, "Introduction: Rediscovering Eero Saarinen," in Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, ed. David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008), 12.


[2] Ibid., 12.


[3] Ibid., 13.


[4] Rupert Spade, "Introduction," Library of Contemporary Architects: Eero Saarinen (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971), 19.


[5] Eero Saarinen, "Architects and Architecture," in Eero Saarinen On His Work, ed. Aline B. Saarinen, (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1962), 18.

[6] David G. De Long, "Introduction: Rediscovering Eero Saarinen," in Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, ed. David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008), 12-13.

[7] Ibid., 12-13.

[8] Ibid., 13.

[9] Rupert Spade, "Introduction," Library of Contemporary Architects: Eero Saarinen (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971), 13.

[10] Eero Saarinen, "Architects and Architecture," in Eero Saarinen On His Work, ed. Aline B. Saarinen, (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1962), 34-36.

[11] David G. De Long, "Introduction: Rediscovering Eero Saarinen," in Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archives, ed. David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008), 14.

[12] Ibid., 14.

[13] Ibid., 14.

girl walk // all day

I can't believe I just saw this for the first time yesterday. Girl Walk // All Day is a music video of epic proportions, or at least, it will be once the whole project is complete. As camera man and director Jacob Krupnick explains:

We're combining the amazing talents of improvisational dancer Anne Marsen (and a supporting cast of contemporary dancers) with the epic new Girl Talk album, All Day to create an album-length music video of grand proportions. We'll be shooting the rest of the film in the spring of 2011, and plan to screen the piece starting this summer—first in NYC and then all around the world.

Damn does Anne Marsen have some skills. It's a long video, but definitely worth it to watch her pop and lock it all over the Staten Island ferry.


Girl Walk // All Day from jacob krupnick on Vimeo.

(Via got a girl crush)

sapling press + dear blank please blank

I can't even begin to tell you all how much I love these letterpress cards, except to say that they make me very happy. A truly brilliant collaboration between Sapling Press and Dear blank please blank,

(Via design is mine)

Laura Carlin

Since first seeing images of London-based illustrator Laura Carlin's ceramics on Lena's blog a few weeks ago, I've continued to see them pop up all over the place, which is good because it keeps reminding me that I think they're pretty wonderful and that I've been wanting to share them here as well. Although Laura has quite a few different types of forms, including a bunch of sculptural ceramic work, I really love the shape and size of these bowls, not to mention their fantastic patterns and illustrations.

ABC superheroes

I absolutely love this ABC Superheroes print, by Fabian Gonzalez. I think that the X for Xavier is my favorite, but they're all pretty darn clever.

(Via design milk)

Blog About It

I've always enjoyed a good shelter magazine. While it still existed, Domino was a great favorite to read on planes and trains, and nothing beats Dwell for a nice big dose of white walled, steel and glass modernism. Of course, while a good magazine is a wonderful thing, there are plenty of shelter-themed blogs out there that corner a different sort of niche market. For today's Blog About It, I'm bringing you two of them with an interior design focus: Desire to Inspire and Small Space Style.

Not only was Desire to Inspire the first entirely interior design-based blog that I discovered, but it's still my favorite as well. Written by Kim, a web developer in Ottawa, Canada, and Jo, a former interior designer from Bisbane, Australia, this pair may never have met in person, but they share a mutual love of interiors that has sparked both a lasting friendship and a very inspiring blog.

 Brooklyn bachelor pad by Mesh Architects.

 A Stockholm loft for sale.

 A Sydney residential development by Baker Kavanagh Architects.

While their focus is mainly on showcasing their current favorite perfect rooms, meaning lots of work by architects and interior designers, photographers, stylists, and stalking of real estate listings, Kim and Jo also feature plenty of reader-driven content, from answering questions and trying to solve design dilemmas to featuring reader's homes. And then there's the Monday's "pets on furniture" column: "Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you want to show off...and your pet happens to be sitting on it." 

(© desire to inspire, all rights reserved)

Like Desire to Inspire, Small Space Style does a great job of showcasing interior design, but as you probably already guessed, it's really all about making the most out of small spaces.

 cool kitchens

 clever storage

 pink

Although she's not an everyday blogger, Lisa has a great sense of style and really does a wonderful job of gathering inspiration from lots of different sources for her posts. These tend to be themed - cozy kitchens, clever storage solutions, pops of color - with minimal commentary, making it a great place to go if you're looking for very specific interior design inspiration.