Eero Saarinen Furniture Design
Many of his pieces have remained in production becoming twentieth century furniture icons.
Eero saarinen furniture design. Eero saarinen 1910 1961 the finnish architect who conceived the st. With popularity comes imitation. A schoolmate and great friend of florence schust it was an obvious choice for her to invite eero to design for knoll when she joined the company in the 1940s. In 1941 he and the designer architect charles eames won a national furniture award for a chair design in molded plywood.
August 20 1910 september 1 1961 was a finnish american architect and industrial designer noted for his neo futuristic style. It came as no surprise that eero was helping his father design furniture and fixtures for the cranbrook campus by the time he was in his teens. Eero saarinen ero srnen ero finnish. Like many contemporary architects saarinen was challenged by furniture design especially the chair which presents aesthetical and structural problems that are particularly difficult to solve.
His designs used modern materials in graceful ways helping establish the identity of knoll during our formative years. What he created is a massive concrete shell that is said to be modeled on an upside down half grapefruit saarinen ate for breakfast one morning during the design process. Born to world famous parents architect and cranbrook academy of art director eliel saarinen and textile artist loja saarinen eero saarinen was surrounded by design his whole life. From the late 1940s through the 1950s eero saarinen designed many of the most recognizable knoll pieces including the tulip chairs and pedestal tables the womb chair and the 70 series executive seating collection.
As a designer saarinen moved easily between the so called international style and expressionism utilizing a vocabulary of bold colors curves and cantilevers. Louis gateway arch along with many other well known structures also received accolades for his modernist furniture designs made by knoll. This is a list of houses commercial buildings educational facilities furniture designs and other structures designed by architect eero saarinenmany of saarinens early designs were in collaboration with his father eliel saarinen. In 1955 eero saarinen was commissioned by twa to create a terminal at jfk airport that evoked the spirit of flight.
Born to world famous parents architect and cranbrook academy of art director eliel saarinen and textile artist loja saarinen eero saarinen was surrounded by design his whole life.