Submitted by

P Imran- 1180100767
K Avinash- 1180100744
S Hemanth-1170100714
Eero saarinen M Satish-1170100687

Theory of architecture
Introduction
Eero Saarinen was born in 1910 in Finland and emigrated to the
U.S. in 1923. The architect started his career with an
apprenticeship and partnership with his father—prolific Art Deco
architect Eliel Saarinen—and went on to become one of the most
important designers of the 20th century. Working mainly in the
U.S., he created dramatically different structures at each turn in his
career, immersing himself in various genres and concepts, making
bold choices and executing them with confidence. Thus his oeuvre
lacks a signature touch, save perhaps the unifying characteristic of
refinement of form. Saarinen’s works are not only architectural
treasures but also symbols—they capture an era of technology, of
futurism, and of optimism.
Design philosophy
● 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.”
● Saarinen developed a remarkable range which depended on colour, form and material.
● “The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man’s life on earth and to filfill
his belief in the nobility of his existence”_ eero saarinen.
● He was famous for his varying style according to demanding of the project simple,
sweeping, arching structural curves.
MIT Chapel, 1955, ● Commissioned by the Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this chapel by
Saarinen has no windows, only a perfectly
circular skylight directly above the altar. A
metal sculpture dangles from the window,
reflecting intense light into the otherwise
enclosed brick cylinder. The chapel,
designed to serve all faiths, is an intensely
focused and celebratory worship space.
General Motors Technical ● Long before the days of sprawling Silicon
Center, 1956, Warren,
Michigan
Valley offices, Saarinen pioneered the tech
campus with his General Motors Technical
Center—the hub for the car company’s
engineering efforts. President Eisenhower
himself delivered a rousing dedication at the
structure’s 1956 opening ceremony,
describing the center as “a new adventure for
frontiersmen.” Saarinen’s space-age
modernism reflects the era’s technological
innovation.
 ● Resembling an unearthed Brutalist bunker,
Milwaukee County the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center
War Memorial looks out over Lake Michigan. The structure
illustrates an extreme end of Saarinen’s
Center, 1957, broad, expressive architectural range.
Milwaukee
TWA Flight Center, 1962, New
York
This JFK terminal was one of several Saarinen projects
completed after his death in 1961. This opus magnum took
the shape of a compact bird, embodying a ’60s sense of
fantasy and science fiction (it would not be out of place as a
Southern California Googie pit stop). Requiring, however, a
touch more class, the terminal was built to meet the needs
of an emerging jet-set elite. Even its most utilitarian
parts—the arrivals and departures board, the ticket counter,
the waiting area—were designed to emulate the luxurious
bridge of a spaceship.
 Comprising a simple hexagon and a massive spire
North Christian
topped with a tiny gold cross, the North Christian
Church, 1964, Church is a theatrical expression of Saarinen’s
Columbus, Indiana imagined intersection of the heavens and the
earth. Like many other Saarinen works, the church
has a remarkably simple form, yet is enriched by
bold choices in configuration and scale.
Gateway Arch, 1965, St. Today the Gateway Arch is one of the most recognizable
landmarks in the U.S. Saarinen perfected the exact
Louis dimensions of this tapered and flattened catenary to create
an iconic form. Built on the banks of the Mississippi River,
at the starting point of the Lewis and Clark expeditions, the
arch stands as a monument for the nation’s westward
expansion.