Eero Saarinen’s Modern Designs Take My Breath Away

Theme Building at LAX

Okay, this is just a quick post because I can’t spend ALL my time blogging, but I was just looking at pictures I took on my way home from Australia and I came across one of the Theme Building at LAX designed by James Langenheim – you know the one that looks like it belongs in The Jetsons, and that made me think of the TWA Terminal at JFK by mid-century modern design master, Eero Saarinen.

Eero Saarinen designed the TWA Terminal at JFK, the St Louis Arch, and the iconic Tulip Chair. His curving, sweeping, swooping lines changed the way we look at space, buildings, and design in general. If you liked the Jetsons, you’ll love the work of Eero Saarinen. His Tulip Table and Tulip Chairs, icons of modern furniture design, would have fit right in on The Jetsons. Saarinen patented these mid-century design classics in 1960 with the goal of freeing us from “the slum of legs,” and they have always made my heart beat faster.

Interior of the TWA Terminal at JFK by Saarinen

Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen

Though he died of a brain tumor in 1961, a year before the TWA Terminal at JFK was completed Saarinen designed all of the original furniture and lighting. He expressed his motivation this way, “All the curves, all the spaces and elements right down to the shape of the signs, display boards, railings and check-in desks were to be of a matching nature. We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed environment, in which each part arises from another and everything belongs to the same formal world.” —Eero Saarinen (1959).

Furniture & Accessories designed by Saarinen

So, here, is my little tribute to the mid-century modern design genius of Eero Saarinen. Some of the photos of the TWA Terminal in this post were taken by his good friend and fellow giant of modern design, Charles Eames. Other subjects include the Womb Chair, the St. Louis Arch, the Miller House, the Drake University Chapel, the Tulip Chair, the Tulip Table, and the David S Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University – They are all presented with love and honor.

Enjoy! Marsya~