In conjunction with Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, which opened today at Museum of the City of New York, Susan Saarinen, the architect's daughter and Mark Coir, a family historian, will present an intimate view at the remarkable legacy and fascinating lives of the Saarinens, arguably the preeminent artistic family of the 20^th Century. This event is FREE for DART subscribers: please scroll down for details.

Left to right: TWA Terminal, New York International (now John F. Kennedy International) Airport, New York, circa 1962; photographer Balthazar Korab; copyright Balthazar Korab Ltd. Eero Saarinen with A Combined Living-Dining-Room-Study project model, created for Architectural Forum magazine, circa 1937; photographer unknown; courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection; Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis, Missouri; courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection; Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University.

The exhibition presents the life and work of Eero Saarinen, one of the most daring and controversial architects of America's mid century. Starting with the designs he created for Cranbrook Academy as a teenager under the guidance of his father, architect Eliel Saarinen, he formed a professional ethos that was nurtured within a family of artists. The younger Saarinen went on to bring post-war technological advances to the design of corporate headquarters and to create iconic brand images for his clients in the process.

Among the advances he pioneered were the corporate campus, which made homes for America's industrial giants in pristine rural settings. This reinvention of the idea of the college campus evoked the power and authority of such clients as General Motors, John  Deere and Bell Labs. He was the first to use self-rusting Cor-ten steel on a large scale; the first to build a curtain wall out of mirror glass as well as building the world's thinnest exterior wall panel made of glass and steel.

But Saarinen is perhaps best remembered for the ecstatic forms of buildings like the Trans World Airline terminal at JFK airport and the soaring United States Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, known as the Gateway to the West - not to mention his furniture designs such as the Pedestal Chair and Tulip Table he designed for Knoll Associates. The exhibition explores his development as an architect, his innovative designs and the remarkable effect his practice brought to the "American Look" of the times. In addition to drawings, photographs, and models, a number of fascinating films shed light on, among other things, the importance of designers in the corporate realm.

DART PARTNERS WITH THE ARTS AT MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: On Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 pm, join Susan Saarinen, Eero Saarinen's daughter and principal of Saarinen Landscape Architecture, and Mark Coir for an illustrated talk. This special program is FREE to DART subscribers, but reservations are required as space is limited. Please call 212-534-1672, X 3395. Just mention DART/AI-AP and your tickets will be held for you. Please do not reply to this email.

The Museum of the City of New York is located at Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street.
By bus: M1, M3, M4 or M106 to 104th Street, M2 to 101st Street.

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