Eero Saarinen

“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” - Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen, born in Kirkkonummi, Finland, was the son of the architect Eliel Saarinen and textile designer Loja Saarinen. He studied sculpture in 1929 and 1930 at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris before studying architecture at Yale University until 1934. From 1936 he worked in his father’s architectural practice and also taught at Cranbrook Academy, where he met Charles Eames.

Together they experimented on new furniture forms and produced the first designs for furniture made from moulded plywood. Saarinen designed many of the most recognisable Knoll pieces, including the Tulip chairs and tables and the Womb chair. His outstanding architectural projects include Dulles International Airport in Washington, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the TWA Terminal at Kennedy International Airport and the CBS headquarters in New York.