FINNISH ARCHITECTURE’S ELIEL AND EERO SAARINEN
Presented by Heikki Penttila
“Forests, water and sky have determined Finland’s course in architecture,” stated Heikki Penttila, architect and president of the Finnish Heritage Museum of Fairport Harbor, Ohio.
“There was no architectural school in those early days of “modern” architecture in Finland. People with an eye for the beauty of nature’s designs, colors and the quantity and quality of light and shadows developed mental patterns and schematics that became notations on a drawing board, resulting in physical structures made of steel, wood and glass.” These buildings would bend and bow with nature’s kiss of light as they headed skyward high-lighting the crowning glory of the architect’s vision.
Ninety per cent of Finland’s buildings have been built in the last one hundred years. Formal training started around 1860; there was no academic tradition to draw upon. Men and women became the first students, with Signe Hornberg becoming the first woman architect in the world. With the development of architecture as a profession, close partnerships of men and women have collaborated in their efforts of design.
Since Finland is a far-north country, it experiences light in a different way. The relationship of light and space are very important. Light defines space, and it reveals the texture and color of materials. “In the winter, light is scarce, in the summer it is super abundant. It is different in the north. At this time, shadows are at a longer angle and light is more delicate, more luminous and hazy. In the south the sun is overhead, in the north it is at more of an angle. This quality of light affects the atmosphere of interior spaces, the texture of materials and colors of walls,” reasoned Heikki. “Therefore, for this reason the interaction between light and space is a central element of architecture.”
Finland was under the rule of Sweden and Russia until 1917, ruled as a territory. Finns had to basically govern themselves locally with little control from a central government. Architecture prior to 1900 consisted of ancient stone churches built of granite and wood. The oldest of the stone churches is the Isokyro church, and the oldest and largest wooden church is the Kerimaki church. (you can see more of this church here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerimäki_Church )
The country was rich in timber, its green gold of the land, and it was easily accessible in the early 17th and 18th centuries. Carl Ludwig Engle, the German architect had laid out the Helsinki capital. A growing nationalism was motivating the development and use of Finnish as the official national language, and the recording of Finnish literature such as the Kalevala the national epic poem, was motivating arts and crafts. This influence is seen in the building of the Helsinki Cathedral. (to see additional information click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Cathedral )
The early 
churches demonstrate their rich definition of art with their geometric lines and rich ryyjy weavings that hang on their walls. Large granite buildings like the Isokyro Church and the surviving largest wooden church at Kerimaki, which seats 4,000 people, make this truth relevant to the observer. Olavinlinna, the ancient Russian castle in Savo, demonstrates this light shining into its turreted spaces.
(More on Olavinlinna here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olavinlinna
Natural conditions such as climate, environment, and the local building resources determined the design of buildings. The hills, valleys, lakes, streams , and their elements in Finland’s landscapes shaped its art and architecture. Granite and ebenholz (geologically ancient stone) provided building stone. Wood was in abundance, available for plywood. Seasonal changes, affecting water, made for winter’s ice and snow patterns suggesting multitudes of glass designs. Spring, summer, and fall’s grass and leaf colors and textures suggested fabric’s brilliant designs and color harmonies. All of these, as they relate in nature, are inter-related beautifully in the artist’s designs. All of these influences are seen as effective forces in the sauna, the key to the Finnish soul. Sunlight (fire in the fire-pit), frugality(buckets of water for steam and washing) demonstrate their efficiency and work ethic, religion and folklore.
“This frugality” explains Penttila, “results in two extremes in Finnish design: highly developed simplification and its counterpoint intense ornamentation. Nature itself is immensely economical and practical. But when nature intends to lure, attract or warn, it is colorfully abundant in a way we find decorative. Finns mimic nature with design in balance and harmony with nature.”
Three men, Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen were partners in the firm Gesellius. Saarinen had been educated at Helsinki University of Technology. His first major work with the firm was the Finnish pavilion at the Paris World Fair of 1900. In this building he exhibited the combination of Finnish wooden architecture, the British Gothic Revival, and the Jugendstil styles. His style became known as the Finnish National Romanticism and produced the Helsinki Central railway station of 1910-14. (more on the Railroad station here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Central_railway_station
Eliel purchased property near Kirkkonummi , near Helsinki, in 1901 on which he designed and built Hvittrask as his home and office; it was a total work of art. It was influenced by William Morris and Henry Hobson Richardson in the American shingle style of the worldwide arts and crafts movement, and also by Karelian folk architecture and the Finnish castles. It was a balance of national and international elements.
In 1902 he won the competition for the design of the Finnish National Museum. His first marriage ended in divorce and he married the sister of Gesellius, Louise (Loja). She was a sculptor and textile artist producing pieces for the buildings designed by the firm. She became a full partner with Eliel as a landscape designer, clothing designer, batik artist, and fabric and textile designer. With their young son Eero she also did model building. Together, Eliel and Loja traveled in Europe. He won the competition for the beautiful Viipuri Railway station. He also was involved with other European projects and designed extensively in the city of Helsinki.
The Gesellius’ firm broke up in 1905; with Lindgren becoming the director of the University of Applied Arts in Helsinki teaching the Finnish Romantic Style. The firm of Gesellius-Saarinen continued through 1905-1907, breaking up in 1908. A wall was built in Hvittrask to divide the two architects. Hvittrask was sold in 1967 to the Finnish government and serves , after renovation, as a national museum today. Gesillius died of tubercular cancer in 1916 and was buried near the lakeshore, where Eliel was buried also in 1950. In 1929 Armas Lindgren died. At Hvittrask the work, life and art of these men was one and could not be separated. Their days had consisted of working together for fifteen-to-sixteen hours.
The Saarinen’s daughter Eva-Lisa, born in 1905, became an interior designer and married an architect in Eliel’s firm. Their son, Eero was born on his father’s birthday, August 20. In 1923 Eliel Saarinen won second place ($40,000) for his design of the headquarters for the Chicago Tribune. He used this money to move his family to the United States. His design for the Tribune was later used in Houston, Texas to build the 1929 Gulf Building. Living in Evanston, he worked on a design for the Chicago lakefront. He was a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan in 1924. This led to his invitation by Henry Scripps Booth to design the campus of Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He taught there and became the president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1932 until 1950. Cranbrook Architectural office was formed with two of his student collaborators, Ray and Charles Eames, influencing their furniture design.
He also became a professor in the University of Michigan’s Architecture Department. His son, Eero (1910-1961) received his early education at Cranbrook, entering Yale School of Fine Arts to study architecture. Graduating in three years in 1934, he became a United States citizen in 1940. Although an American citizen, his American design of the US Chancellery Building in London was considered and objected to being designed by “a foreigner” by Representative R. Bolton, of Ohio in 1959. He took first prize in 1948 competition for the design of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis that was not completed until the 1960s. This award was mistakenly sent to his father.
Eero designed many important pieces of furniture including the “Grasshopper” lounge chair and ottoman (1946), the “Womb” chair and ottoman (1948) and the“Tulip” or “Pedestal” group of 1956.
These were produced by the Knoll furniture company. He received many commissions from American universities for campus designs and individual buildings. His first major work was with his father of the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.
The TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the main terminal of Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. used catenary curves in their structural designs (as shown in picture #1 above). One of the best-known thin-shelled concrete structures is the Kresge Auditorium at MIT. His most famous project design is the TWA Flight Center, which showed his technical marvel using concrete shells with great expressionism.
Following his father’s death, Eero founded his own architect’s office with Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo known as Eero Saarinen and Associates. After Eero’s death of a brain tumor in 1961 the firm became known as Roche-Dinkeloo. They have contributed to the Yale University Library a collection of images and drawings from Saarinen’s archives. He is remembered for his simple, sweeping, arching curves which he demonstrated through his model building which began in his youth in Finland.
Text ©Elaine Lillback and photos ©Lasse O. Hiltunen
Editor's note: Penttila's architectural presentation is to be continued in next year's programs. (tentatively scheduled for February 8. 2010)
