cover image Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen

Antonio Romano, Antonio Roman. Princeton Architectural Press, $60 (240pp) ISBN 978-1-56898-340-0

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 Roman. 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 Roman, offers an interesting case study precisely for its lack of focus. As Roman's late colleague Ignasi de Sola-Morales writes in the foreword, Roman 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, Roman 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. Among Saarinen's associates, the author suggests, including such names as Cesar Pelli, Robert Venturi, and Gunnar Birkerts, Saarinen became""something of a prophetic figure for the way his buildings evolved from an expanding, project-based vocabulary rather than from some modern functionalist ideal."" Posthumously granted the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1962, Saarinen was a master who well deserves a tribute such as this. 60 color and 100 b&w illustrations.