Saarinen Houses

"Saarinen Houses presents seventeen of the houses designed by the iconic father-son architects. Including original drawings and archival photos, as well as a wealth of newly taken photographs, the book highlights both the commonalities and differences inthe two architects' works. From Eliel Saarinen's early-twentieth-century Villa Pulkanranta, an eclectic mix of local Finnish design traditions and international influences, to Eliel's famous Art-Deco house at Cranbrook, to the duo's collaborative Koebel House, with its strong, horizontal exterior, to Eero's Miller House, one of the most significant examples of modern domestic architecture in the United States, Eliel and Eero Saarinen: Houses shows how the development of new interests and techniques became manifest in the design of these residences. Regardless of style, all of these buildings are based in the Saarinens' belief in architecture as as a total work of art--that a building must be designed both inside and out and be seen in relation to the landscape it sits in. All of the houses have carefully designed interior and blend and merge into their surroundings in a natural manner, rewarding their inhabitants with exciting views, inviting nooks, comfortable chairs to sit in, and rooms heated with fireplaces. As these pages show, both architects were extremely skilled at creating a balanced domestic environment through harmoniously designed rooms and carefully considered details"--

Jari Jetsonen is a freelance photographer who focuses on architecture and world bathing cultures, especially Finnish saunas.

Architect Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen works at the National Board of Antiquities and lectures in architectural history at Aalto University and Washington University in St Louis.