presents
EERO SAARINEN:
A REPUTATION FOR INNOVATION
April 14 to June 2013
1315 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30309
Coming in April 14 to the Museum of Design Atlanta, Eero Saarinen: A Reputation for Innovation provides a visually rich overview of key architectural projects and opens a new and hitherto little known window into Finnish born architect and furniture designer Eero Saarinen’s covert service to the United States Office of Strategic Services during WWII. A rich array of photographs and documents tells his biography from his childhood in Finland to his life in America and offers a glimpse into the renewed personal life he achieved with his second wife Aline L. Saarinen.
The exhibition also encapsulates his design philosophy and points out the principles which guided his work confirming lasting values and a renewed relevance of his work for the present generation.
The exhibition debuted in Washington, DC at the end of 2010, marking the 100th anniversary of Eero Saarinen’s birth. It has traveled to the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle where it was on display from May to August, 2012 and is currently on view at the Architecture + Design Museum in Los Angeles. To address the interest in mid-century furniture, the exhibition incorporates furniture and a drafting room module that includes drawings and sketches of MIT Chapel and Kresge Auditorium as well as drawings of the TWA terminal at JFK International Airport. Also of interest is a beautifully crafted model of the influential Case Study House #9 which Saarinen designed with Charles Eames and built for John Entenza the editor of Arts and Architecture magazine.
ABOUT EERO SAARINEN
Eero Saarinen died on September 1, 1961 at the age of 51. Saarinen was a shooting star whose light shined brightly upon American architecture with buildings that became instant icons of modernism. He also influenced product designs for living, introducing such iconic modern furniture as the tulip chair and the womb chair. He was catapulted into the architectural limelight early in his career by winning (together with his famous father, Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and brother in law, Robert Swanson) a widely publicized national competition for a museum on the Mall in the nation’s capital. The design was the brainchild of the young 29 year old Eero. While never built, the Smithsonian Gallery of Art nevertheless, succeeded in changing how museums were designed in America and the world.
Twenty years later Saarinen designed an airport that changed the way airports were built in America and the world. Like the museum, it was for Washington, DC. Both were significant projects that influenced the modern movement. The Smithsonian Gallery of Art had established him as the rising beacon of modernism in a country not quite ready to embrace the movement. In his own words, Dulles Airport was his best building. But Washington had also been Saarinen’s home briefly. During the early 1940s when he served in the OSS—Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA—Saarinen lived in Georgetown and had an office in the city. This exhibition focuses on selected buildings of an American architect whose influence in the field of design and across the U.S. and the world was transformative.
ABOUT MODA
The Museum of Design Atlanta is the only museum in the Southeastern United States dedicated to all things design. With a mission to advance the understanding and appreciation of design as the convergence of creativity and functionality, MODA offers an array of exhibitions, educational programming and events for all ages focused on a variety of design disciplines, including but not limited to architecture, furniture design, industrial design, graphics, digital design and fashion. Located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, across the street from the Woodruff Art Center, the Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, and Sundays Noon to 5 pm. To learn more visit www.museumofdesign.org.
Exhibition sponsorships are available. Please contact Barbara Richardson, brichardson@museumofdesign.org or 404-934-2188 for more information.
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