Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future

One of the most influential figures in post-World War II architecture was the Finnish-born Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), whose neo-futuristic vision produced some of the most striking design accomplishments of the 20th century. Filmmaker Peter Rosen's PBS-aired American Masters documentary offers a respectable overview of Saarinen's career. The son of acclaimed architect Eliel Saarinen, Eero first gained attention in 1948 when he won the competition to create the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis with a concept that became known as the Gateway Arch. Saarinen's later designs for the TWA Flight Center at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and the main terminal at Washington's Dulles International Airport were boldly modern, while his General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI, turned the corporate campus into a work of intelligent art. Saarinen's interior design concepts—most notably the “tulip chair”—offered an imaginative spin on office and home décor. Eric Saarinen, this film's co-producer and director of photography, also serves as an onscreen presence, visiting many of his father's famous buildings. But the younger Saarinen appears somewhat uncomfortable plumbing the more sour aspects of his father's life—Saarinen divorced Eric's mother, sculptor Lilian Swann, and mostly ignored Eric and his sister in favor of the vivacious writer Aline Bernstein, whose tireless promotion of Saarinen's projects made him better known. Presenting a solid appraisal of Saarinen's influential architectural achievements, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)