Eero saarinen

Finnish Americanarchitect

August 20, 1910 September 1, 1961

EERO SAARINEN
Eero saarinen was born in 1910,in Finland.
Eero Saarinen was the youngest child of the famous
architect Eliel Saarinen, who explained that his son was
"born practically on the drafting board."
His mother loja was a gifted sculptor and architectural model
maker.
Eero grew up in a household where drawing and painting
were taken very seriously, and a devotion to quality and
professionalism were instilled in him at an early age.
He was taught that each object should be designed in its
"next largest context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a
house in an environment, environment in a city plan."
In 1923,the saaoinens emigrated to u.s,where he began to
study sculpture and furniture design.
Saarinen graduated from high school in 1929 and went to
Paris to study sculpture.
Between 1930 and 1934, Eero studied at the Yale School of
Architecture.

 From 1939 to 1947 he worked for his father's firm .

After working with his father on a number of projects,
Eero Saarinen had a chance to express his own philosophy
when he entered the 1947 architectural competition for
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
This was his first opportunity to establish himself as an
independent architect, and he set out to design a
monument not only to Thomas Jefferson and the nation,
but also to the modern age.
For him, "The major concern ...was to create a
monument which would have lasting significance and
would be a landmark of our time... Neither an obelisk nor
a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on this site or
for this purpose. But here, at the edge of the Mississippi
River, a great arch did seem right."

 When his father died in 1950, Eero Saarinen took over his practice,
running it as Saarinen & Associates

Saarinen developed a remarkable range which depended on colour,form

and material.

In late 1930s ,Experimenting with Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen codeveloped new furniture forms and the first designs for furniture of
molded laminated wood.
In 1941 Saarinen won two prizes in the New York Museum of Modern Art
competition for functional furniture design for pieces on which he and
Charles Eames had collaborated.

Saarinen continued to design innovative chairs.

After winning the functional furniture design contest he began
working on "organic" chair designs, resulting in the "womb" chair,
which eased the sitter into a fetal position and was considered
by many to be the most comfortable chair ever made.

PHILOSOPHY:
Eero saarinen was an american architect and prodect
designer,20th century.
He was famous for his varying style according to demand of
the project simple, sweeping,arching structural curves.

ACCORDING TO EERO SAARINEN:

The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance
mans life on earth and to fulfill his belief in the nobility of
his existence.

BUILDINGS

NORTH CHRISTIAN CHURCH

COLUMBUS,INDIANA (1959 TO1963)

LOCATION : COLUMBUS , INDIANA

DATE
: 1959 TO 1963
BUILDING : CHURCH
TYPE
CLIMATE
: TEMPERATE
CONTEXT : SUBURBAN
STYLE
: MODERN
THIS WAS THE LAST BUILDING
DESIGNED BY
SAARINEN BEFORE HIS DEATH .
SAARINENS FATHER HAD DESIGNED THE
FIRST
CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN COLUMBUS.

THE BUILDING IS HEXAGONAL IN

SHAPE , WITH
CENTRAL SPIRE WHICH IS 192 FEET
(59M) HIGH .

BELOW THE SPIRE THERE IS OCULUS

THAT
ADMITS LIGHT INTO MAIN LEVEL .

THE SANCTURY IS LOCATED AT THE

CENTRE OF
THE BUILDING , WITH A ALTAR
LOCATED AT THE
CENTRE OF THE SANCTURY .

ROWS OF PEWS SURROUND THE

ALTAR IN THE CICULAR PATTERN ,
REFLECTING THE IDEA THAT
WORSHIP SHOULD BE CENTRAL
ASPECT OF THE LIFE OF
CONGREGATION .
The communion table should be the
focal point. We can have the
congregation sitting around the
communion table where everyone feels
equal and joined together in unity and
harmony

OCULUS FOR ADMITION OF LIGHT

IN THE CHURCH

In the North Christian Church, my thinking has always

been to make the organ pipes an important element in
the sanctuary design

Rear side of church

*Church is elevated to have all the secondary activities like

auditorium, Sunday school, gymnasiums etc. underground , hidden
away and put only the sanctuary above ground and make it the
significant visual and architecture thing
*Other reason is , the site is flat in a residential district the church
must be elevated so that it stand s proudly above the parked cars
and surrounding houses

DULLES AIRPORT

DULLES AIRPORTAT CHANTILLY ,VIRGINIA(1958 TO 1962)

Washington Dulles International Airport

serves the greater Washington, D.C./metropolitan area.
It is named after John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State
It serves as a major hub for United Airlines and a focus city for Jet Blue
Airways.
The airport occupies approximately 11,000 acres (17.19 mi/ 44.5 km) of
land 26 miles (41.8 km) west of downtown Washington, straddling the
border of Fairfax County and Loudoun County, Virginia
It is located partly in Chantilly and partly in Dulles, west of Herndon and
southwest of Sterling.
The airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on November 17,
1962.
The main terminal is highly regarded for its graceful beauty, suggestive
of flight

 Dulles was the first airport in the world specifically designed for jet
aircraft, and many of its architectural features were experimental at the
time for example underground people mover and pedestrian walkway
system ,mobile lounges that bring passengers directly from aircraft to
terminal.
Dulles expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, operations outgrew the main
terminal and new midfield concourses were constructed, using mobile
lounges to bring passengers to the main terminal.
An underground tunnel consisting of a passenger walkway and moving
sidewalks was opened in 2004 which links the main terminal .

CURVED ROOF SUPPORTED UPON COLUMNS

The terminal ceiling is suspended in an elegant curve above the luggage

check-in area.
There are two sets of gates in the main terminal
The main terminal is a very well regarded building; its roof is a suspended
catenary providing a wide enclosed area unimpeded by columns.
It houses ticketing, baggage claim, and information facilities, as well as the
International Arrivals Building for passenger processing.

TWA TERMINAL

DETAILED MODEL OF TWA

The building designed to be the embodiment of flight.

Saarinen developed the form with reinforced concrete. Its
expressive forms allow the building to stand out against its
contemporaries. The fluid nature of concrete was pushed to
the extreme in creating the bird-like forms. The concrete
also made a solid choice since the building would be subject
to millions of travelers a year. The materials had to be
durable.

ENTRANCE TO THE TERMINAL

ST. LOUIS ARCH

AERIAL VIEW

ST. LOUIS ARCH

ST. LOUIS ARCH , MISSOURI

The Arch is known as the "Gateway to the West".
Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer
Hannskarl Bandel
It stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, and is 630 feet (192 m) at its widest point.
.The cross-sections of its legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing from 54 feet
(16.5 m) per side at the base to 17 feet (5.2 m) at the top.
Each wall consists of a stainless steel skin covering reinforced concrete from
ground level to 300 feet (91 m) or carbon steel and rebar from 300 feet (91 m) to
the peak.
The interior of the Arch is hollow and contains a unique transport system
leading to an observation deck at the top.
The interior of the Arch also contains two emergency stairwells of 1076 steps
each, in the event of a need to evacuate the Arch or if a problem develops with
the tram system
.Underneath the Arch is a visitor center, entered from a descending outdoor
ramp starting at either base.

ENTRANCE TO THE ARCH

Entrance to the Arch is from the underground George B. Hartzog, Jr.
Visitor Center, located directly beneath it.
Visitors are carried from the lobby level below to the observation
platform at the top of the Arch by a unique conveyance system - a 40passenger train made up of eight five-passenger capsules in each leg.
Operating at the rate of 340 feet per min., the ride takes 10 minutes for
the round trip.
The observation platform is 65 feet by 7 feet, with plate-glass windows
providing views in the east and west directions.
There is also a conventional
maintenance elevator in each leg as
far as the 372-foot level, and stairways with 1,076 steps in each leg rise
from the base to the top of the Arch. The elevators and stairways are for
maintenance and emergency use only.

SECURITY
Visitors pass through security checkpoints at each entrance to the Arch, before
being allowed access to the visitor center.
TRAM
A unique tram system that combined an elevator cable lift system with gimbaled
cars functionally similar to ferris wheel gondolas had been installed.
From the visitor center one may move to either base (one on the north end and
the other on the south end) of the Arch and enter the tramway much as one would
enter an ordinary elevator, through narrow double doors.
Passing through the doors, passengers in groups of five enter an egg-shaped
compartment containing five seats and a flat floor.
Eight compartments are linked to form a train, meaning that both trains have a
capacity of 40, and that 80 people can be transported at one time.
These compartments individually retain an appropriate level by periodically
rotating every 5 degrees, which allows them to maintain the correct orientation
while the entire train follows curved tracks up one leg of the arch.
The trip to the top of the Arch takes four minutes, and the trip back down takes
three minutes.
The car doors have narrow glass panes, allowing passengers to see the interior
stairways and structure of the Arch during the trip.

TRAM HAVING A SEATING FOR FIVE PEOPLE

OBSERVATION AREA
Near the top of the arch, a rider exits the compartment and
climbs a slight grade to enter the arched observation area.
Small windows, almost invisible from the ground, allow
views across the Mississippi River and southern Illinois with its
prominent Mississippian culture mounds to the east at
Cahokia, and the City of Saint Louis and St. Louis County to
the west beyond the city
On a clear day, one can see up to thirty miles. (48 km)

OBSERVATION AREA

INCLINED WINDOWS AT THE TOP OF THE ARCH FOR A

COMPLETE VIEW

The Arch: The St. Louis Gateway Arch is in the form of an inverted
catenary, which is a very stable structure that is often used in bridges,
domes, and arches.