The Legacy of Saarinen by Christina Cedeno

01 02 03

CONTENT 01

SHAPING THE FUTURE

PROJECTS

DRAWINGS

TWA FLIGHT CENTER 1962

SAARINEN SHAPING THE FUTURE 01

Saarinen helped create the international image of the United States with his designs for some of the most potent symbolic expressions of American identity such as St. Louis Gateway Arch (1948-64) and TWA Terminal (1956-62) at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. “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,” said Eero Saarinen in 1959. Saarinen’s architectural legacy communicates this sentiment of giddy potential and unfettered optimism in post-war America. Iconic projects like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport Terminal and the Kresge Auditorium on MIT’s campus express his groundbreaking brand of mid-century modernism. In 1934, Saarinen graduated from the School of Architecture at Yale University. As his career flourished, he was criticized for changing his style depending on his client’s needs and desires. The architect, however, saw his clients as “co-creators” and was dedicated to pushing the established boundaries of modernism, what he called the ”measly ABC.”

EERO SAARINEN 1910-1961 Saarinen was one of the most prolific, unorthodox, and controversial masters of 20th-century architecture. Although his career was cut short by death at age 51 in 1961, He was one of the most celebrated architects of his time, both at home and abroad. In the postwar decades of what has been called â&#x20AC;&#x153;the American Century,â&#x20AC;?

Saarinen didn’t ignore the smaller sculptural pieces needed to furnish his ambitious projects. Though he started designing furniture in his teens, it wasn’t until he and Charles Eames won first prize in the Museum of Modern Art’s Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition in 1940 that he was taken seriously as a furniture designer. The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man’s life on earth.

“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.”

Though their award-winning molded plywood chairs were never put into production, the acknowledgement launched the careers of both men – Eames later going on to work for Herman Miller, while Saarinen partnered with his former Cranbrook associates. His Pedestal Table, Tulip™ Chairs, Womb™ Chair and Executive Seating have all become easily recognizable icons of American modernism.

GATEWAY ARCH ST. LOUIS 1963

PROJECTS 02

GATEWAY ARCH, MISSOURI WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT, VIRGINIA BELL LABS HOLMDELL COMPLEX, NEW JERSEY TWA FLIGHT CENTER, NEW YORK

GATEWAY ARCH ST LOUIS, MISSOURI Built to commemorate the westward expansion of the United States, the Gateway Arch designed by Eero Saarinen became a futuristic marker that rose above the cityscape of St. Louis. In its design, this monument drew from previous symbolic constructs of similar aspiration, scale and mathematical precision.

THE GATEWAY ARCH PRESEVED THE TRADITION OF MATHEMATICAL RIGOR AND FORMAL SIMPLICITY IN THE DESIGN OF AMERICAN MONUMENTS

The catenary, an ideal form that exists largely in compression, was the starting point for Saarinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design. Sweeping a triangular section of variable size along this curve was the basis for its form. The mathmatical catenary was then distorted in order to increase aesthetic impact of the design while still maintaining its structural performitivity. The gateway arch preseved the tradition of mathematical rigor and formal simplicity in the design of American monuments, that began with the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, while instilling a notion of contemporaneity in the material and programmatic complexity of the project. The arch is comprised of steel-clad concrete triangular sections that vary from . It varies in thickness from 54ft (bottom), to 17ft (top). The steel plates are assembled very tightly against each other in order to increase its structral stability and also to increase its aestheticsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;making it look even more slender than it is. Programmatically, Saarinen wanted his arch to also act as an observation deck. A complex system of elevator cars that climb diagonally to the top of the curved arch carry 12 people at a time to the top where visiters can view the surrounding landscape from 630 feet above the ground. These elevator cars were designed as futuristic pods that were inspired by the similar aesthetics of the time.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT DULLES, VIRGINIA Known for his innovative, sculptural forms used throughout both architecture and furniture designs, Eero Saarinen includes these same curving and organic forms in the TWA Terminal as well as in the Dulles International Airport on the outskirts of Washington D.C. The growth in aviation at the end of World War II led to the proposal and passing of the Washington Airport Act of 1950, which stated that there would be federal backing for a second airport.

One of the key moments of innovation in this terminal was the employment of new transport vehicles known as mobile lounges, which resembled a sort of giant luxury bus and carried up to ninety people from the terminal to their plane.

Located 26 miles west of the central business district of Washington D.C. in Chantilly, Virginia, the

Washington

Dulles

International

Airport

is named after John Foster Dulles, who was Secretary of State under President Eisenhower. It occupies 11,830 acres of land right on the border of Fairfax County and Loudoun County. Ranked the fifth largest hub for United Airlines, the Dulles Airport is one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s busiest airports as it handles over 23 million passengers a day, flying to more than 125 destinations. Finnish architect Eero Saarinen was hired as the architect of the main terminal, working with the civil engineering firm Ammann and Whitney, who was the lead contractor. Saarinen was chosen for his ability to provide graceful beauty, similar to the nature of flight. When faced with the challenge of designing the terminalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entrance, he had to create an articulated entrance to stand out against the modern and repetitive structure. He also had the typical challenge of providing graceful access to the building, encountered by automobile, entered and further accessed by foot. Famous architect Kevin Roche worked in the office of Saarinen during the time of this project, and with his contribution came the overall elliptical form of the building.

The Dulles terminal has two floors; the first for departing passengers, ticketing and concessions, and the other for arriving passengers, baggage claim, and ground transportation. One of the key moments of innovation in this terminal was the employment of new transport vehicles known as mobile lounges, which resembled a sort of giant luxury bus and carried up to ninety people from the terminal to their plane.

“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.”

This inclusion of the mobile lounge led to a revolutionary approach to airport movement, allowing the design of Dulles to do away with the multitude of gates that cluttered most terminals before it. In attempts to allow more space between the front of the building and the ticket counters, the main terminal was reconfigured and additions were made to both ends, doubling the structure’s length.

BELL LABS HOLMDELL COMPLEX ST LOUIS, MISSOURI At its peak, thousands passed through its massive, light-filled atrium. Today, Bell Labs Holmdel stands empty, all of its 1.9-millionsquare-feet utterly without life. An iconic example of the now-disparaged office park, the campus in central Jersey, was shuttered in 2007 and vacated soon after. Years later, it remains in an abandoned, if not unkept state.

As is often noted, the building is as highly prized by scientists as it is by architects. It was here, Saarninen‘s quarter-mile fortress, that has housed some of the last century’s most significant scientific discoveries. And it’s here that the building’s new owner, Somerset Development, imagines a new urbanist temple to commerce. Plans are in place to revitalize the site as a town center for Holmdel, complete with urban ammenities like shops and a coffee shop. But as Fred Bernstein wrote in last month’s cover story, the building’s uncompromising layout complicates Bell Lab’s adaptive reuse. New York architect Alexander Gorlin is currently exploring strategies that will bring life back to the historic

complex,

while

still

preserving

Saarinen’s graceful design. The Bell Labs building has been the site of countless advances in science and technology since its completion in 1961. In its time, it’s hosted the work of multiple Nobel Prize winners, including that of Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who in 1964 discovered the universal background radiation that helped prove that our universe is expanding, and led to the general acceptance of the Big Bang Theory.

Signs of decay at the mammoth building are quite visible â&#x20AC;&#x201D; plastic buckets catch water leaking from the glass roof under which scientists developed satellite communications. In 2007, Preservation New Jersey listed the building as one of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top 10 most endangered historical properties.

TWA FLIGHT CENTER NEW YORK CITY, NY If you have ever flown in or out of the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, you may have experienced or noticed Eero Saarinen’s Trans World Flight Center. Even in the hustle and bustle of a busy airport, the building deserves more than just a passing glance. When Saarinen was commissioned in 1956, the client wanted this building to capture the “spirit of flight,” and as visitors rush to make it to their flight there is no choice but to admire the swooping concrete curves that embraced flyers into the jet age.

IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THE CONCEPT OF FLIGHT, SAARINEN USED CURVES TO CREATE SPACES THAT FLOWED INTO ONE ANOTHER.

The exterior’s concrete roof imitates a bird in flight with two massive “wings.” The interior consists of a continuous ribbon of elements, all whisking themselves in from the exterior, so that ceilings continously run into walls and those walls become floors.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;All the curves, all the spaces and elements right down to the shape of the signs, display boards, railings and check-in desks were to be of a matching nature. We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed environment, in which each part arises from another and everything belongs to the same formal world,â&#x20AC;? stated Eero Saarinen during construction in 1959.