eero saarinen, borN 1910
architect and furniture designer
The Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen was the son of the distinguished architect Eliel Saarinen. Eero was an extraordinarily inventive and skilful designer. His buildings include the astonishingly sculptural TWA terminal at JFK airport, New York. With its sweeping curved concrete roof it was a hymn to the era of the jet airliner, and became a 1960s design icon. It has now been converted into a remarkable airport hotel. Alongside his prolific architectural work, Eero Saarinen designed a family of futuristic furniture, including his iconic moulded single leg tables and Tulip chairs. These have become collectors’ items, and are still being manufactured today. Perhaps his crowning achievement, completed after his death at the age of just 51, was an immense and elegant sculpture - the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. It is a sweeping catenary curve, 630 feet high, with a triangular cross section, and is clad in stainless steel. The boldness of its design is matched only by the boldness with which Saarinen and its promoters overcame the huge poliitical, financial and technical obstacles to its construction.