Architectural Record 2015-04

38
ARCHITECTURAL RECORD APRIL 2015
perspectivebooks
Father and Son, Together and Apart
Saarinen Houses, by Jari Jetsonen
and Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen. Princeton
Architectural Press, October 2014,
224 pages, $50 (hardcover).
Reviewed by Jayne Merkel
this beautifully illustrated
book covers most of the houses
designed by Eliel Saarinen, with
his partners and members of
his family, and by his son, Eero,
both with Eliel and with associates
of his own. It is important
because most writing about Eero
pays far too little attention to
the influence of his father or to
the collaborative nature of both
their practices.
The authors, a photographer
and an architect, know about
cooperative family ventures, since
they are married and have done
several books together.
This book shows how the
Saarinens’ work evolved from its
National Romantic origins in
Finland at the beginning of the
20th century to the heyday of
midcentury Modernism. The
Saarinens contributed to both
movements significantly. The
villas that Eliel and his colleagues
designed in Finland were masterpieces
of the Arts and Crafts
movement in Scandinavia. And
the houses Eero designed in
America embody the transition
from his father’s mode to one
directly derived from the mechanical
technology that he learned
while designing the General
Motors Technical Center outside
Detroit (1955).
Some of the houses are well
known. Three are even museums—Eliel’s
Hvitträsk, on a lake
outside Helsinki (1902), the
Saarinen House at Cranbrook in
Michigan (1930), and Eero’s Miller
House in Columbus, Indiana
(1957). But the book also includes
10 Finnish villas from the early
20th century, some Modern houses
in the Midwest by the Saarinen
Swanson and Saarinen firm from
the 1930s and ’40s, and a house
Eero built for his mother on his
own property in Michigan after
Eliel’s death.
Most interesting, perhaps—
because they are not widely
known and have lessons to teach
for urban planning today—are
some rowhouses that Eliel
designed as part of his plan for
the Munkkiniemi-Haaga area of
Helsinki in 1916. These large,
gracious homes combined the
advantages of urban and suburban
dwellings and provided
inspiration for those that Eliel
designed at Cranbrook. They are
integrated with their natural
settings and yet occupy the land-
scape economically enough to
provide excellent models for
development now.
A touching final essay by Eero’s
daughter, the landscape architect
Susan Saarinen, describes the
dynamics of “a family where art
and design were” not just “a
common topic of conversation at
the dinner table” but a way of
life. This book provides a window
into that life. ■
Jayne Merkel is a contributing editor
of record and the author of Eero
Saarinen (Phaidon, 2005), which
chronicles the work of both Saarinens.
CALLING ALL
ARCHITECTS
ENTER YOUR BEST WORK
IN THE 2014 ARCHITECTS CHALLENGE.
Get the attention of our judges
and win top honors in the prestigious
Architects Challenge. Submit your favorite
project featuring Marvin Windows and Doors,
and you could be one of the 10 selected
winners. Best in Show will be featured in
a national publication.
2013 BEST IN SHOW: FOLLY FARM, DALE HUBBARD
Folly Farm is a contemporary expression of
historic, additive farmhouse-style architecture.
Show us your work at MARVIN.COM/ARCHITECTSCHALLENGE
CIRCLE 60
© 2014 Marvin Windows and Doors. All rights reserved. ®Registered trademark of Marvin Windows and Doors. 1-800-268-7644