Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) was an architect and designer who adapted his style to fit each project. A new project is a new problem, and each problem requires a different solution. This is a mindset I whole-mindedly subscribe to.
[photos and writing used solely for academic purpose]
[click above to view entire book]
Problem:
There's a need for a coffee table book on Eero Saarinen. His work finds a spot to do the limbo between organically-inspired and industrially-respectful, as in—the construction of the curvaceous silhouettes, the process of building them, is intentionally ingrained in their final form. The inorganic within the organic within the inorganic.
Solutions:
The color orange. Orange is a color that appears rarely in nature, but when it does—you'll see it. (No offense to the color-blind, or the legally blind, or otherwise.) Hence traffic cones and safety vests and warning signs, etc. But a carrot, a bell pepper, a California poppy? Nature's warning sign that you need to stop and appreciate the magic at play.
[above image by Matt Olson, used academically]
Problem:
Each of Eero's constructions takes on a new form, a new shape, a new style. Translate that chameleonic approach into the book.
Solution:
On each spread containing the essay by Antonio Román, the text columns are rigid and rectilinear, standing in stark contrast to the atypical forms from Saarinen, color-blocked and backing a new type style highlighting passages from the text.
Problem:
The scope of Eero's work is too wide-ranging to break down into a small number of categories. How can the photo section be organized?
Solution:
There is a 2010 essay by Alice T. Friedman for Places Journal which succinctly describes three overarching themes of Saarinen's career. His exploration of new building technologies and materials, treating every architectural commission as a separate artistic problem, and imagining his buildings as animate, inhabited spaces—the perfect three-category breakdown for organizing a collection of photos into chapters. Thank you, Alice!
Credits where they're due.
