Architecture

Saarinen coming to PBS on December 27.

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Eero Saarinen with model and sketches of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, ca. 1958. Photo credit: Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University Library. Home page photo of Saarinen also courtesy Yale University Library.

Here’s one hour during the holidays when you won’t be longing for Downton Abbey. PBS will premier American Masters – Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future on December 27. Tune in to explore the life of Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen (1910–1961), who designed New York’s TWA Terminal at JFK Airport, Yale University’s Ingalls Rink, St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, and many other visionary buildings. Saarinen also designed several extraordinary and still-thriving furniture collections, including the Pedestal Table, Tulip Chair and Womb Chair.

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Eero Saarinen’s son, Eric Saarinen, on location at New York’s TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Photo credit: Peter Rosen Productions, Inc.

This one-hour program features Eero’s son, Eric Saarinen, as he visits the sites of his father’s work. As director of photography, Eric co-produced the film with director Peter Rosen.

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Eric Saarinen on location in front of St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch. Photo credit: Peter Rosen Productions, Inc.

Visit pbs.org for additional content about Eero Saarinen.

  • line_doggie

    I had experienced the TWA Terminal as a working terminal in the 1980’s. I’ll be using the term experienced a lot in my post. The TWA Terminal is a very special structure, the future that was. Unfortunately, much mid-century structures have fallen victim to the wrecking ball, to be replaced by uninspired cookie cutter – developer buildings. TWA had built a very inspired domestic terminal next to what is now Jet Blue’s Terminal 5.

    My next Saarinen monument was the St. Louis Arch. What amazed me the most as I approached the massive structure is just how the arch disappears as you approach it. Very much a whimsical structure, the Arch and its elevator pod system was an adventure, a structure to be experienced.

    Developer mid 70’s structures have been “improved” into junk. In Los Angeles, the underground ARCO plaza, a monument to mid-70s mod was redone in a 21st century style, a very uninspired, disappointing redo. It would be fun to connect the Plaza with the subway lines, making it a shopping center station, and redo it back to the 1970s.