Eero Saarinen

1910 – 1961

Author of some of the most important architectures of the 20th century in the US and Europe, among which the TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York, Eero Saarinen is considered one of the major innovators of the architectural language of his time.

The work of Saarinen in the field of furniture design is usually identified in the collaboration with Knoll Associates. A recent donation of the design archives by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, the latter associates of Saarinen, has nevertheless made it possible to analyze in depth his architectural works, and to discover the numerous projects of furniture that Saarinen designed in their context. Among them, some were addressing mass production but the untimely death of Saarinen had interrupted their finalization. Through studies at Yale University, the analysis of extant unique pieces and cooperation with Saarinen’s heirs, the Lounge Seats for the General Motors Technical Center, the tables for the Vassar College and modular seating for the Law School of Chicago University are now part of Matrix International collection.

Suggested readings
Aline B. Saarinen, “Eero Saarinen on his Work”, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1962
Antonio Roman, Eero Saarinen, an Architecture of Multiplicity, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2003
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Donald Albrecht, “Eero Saarinen, Shaping the Future”, Yale Architectural Press, 2006
Massimo Imparato, “Eero Saarinen: The Organic Unit of Furniture Design”, Gangemi Publishing, Rome 2014