Eero Saarinen - An Architecture Of Multiplicity

Underappreciated second-generation modernist architect Eero Saarinen (son of the celebrated Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen) takes his star turn in this well-illustrated, large format career retrospective, with intelligent, fluid commentary by architect-historian Román. Although never distinguishing himself with a signature style, Saarinen executed some of our most memorable mid-century commissions: Dulles Airport, the TWA Terminal at JFK and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis among them. His work, according to Román, offers an interesting case study precisely for its lack of focus. As Román's late colleague Ignasi de Solà-Morales writes in the foreword, Román seeks to "explore the architectural mechanisms by which an architect can produce a valuable body of work, despite its apparent lack of unity." Through copious photographs, diagrams and well-turned writing, Román paints Saarinen as a poster child for a pluralistic architectural practice, and extols his holistic, if sometimes mercurial, attitude regarding the built environment in general. Saarinen believed his buildings should seek to physically express their intended uses: "Conveying significant meaning is part of the inspirational purpose of architecture and, therefore, for me, it is a fundamental principle of our art," he once wrote.