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Eero Saarinen (*in 1910 in Kirkkonummi/Finland, † September 1, 1961 Ann Arbor/USA), the son of the
architect Eliel Saarinen, studied sculpture in 1929 and 1930 at the Académie de la Grande Chaumičre in Paris
before studying architecture at Yale University in New Haven until 1934. A Yale fellowship enabled him to
travel to Europe. In 1936, he returned to the USA and worked in his father's architectural practice and
also taught at Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills. It was here that Eero Saarinen met Charles Eames.
Together they experimented on new furniture forms and produced the first designs for furniture made
from moulded plywood. In 1940, they submitted a joint entry - Organic Chair, also known as Conversation Chair
- to the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition held by the Museum of Modern Art in
New York. Although Eero Saarinen designed numerous iconic furniture pieces, he was principally an
architect. The TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York is considered to be his
architectural masterpiece, but he was also, for example, responsible for the US Embassy in London,
the Gateway Arch in St.Louis was working on the building of Dulles International Airport in Washington
at the time of his death in 1961. Saarinen also served on the jury for the Sydney Opera House commission
and was instrumental in the final decision.
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