SAARINEN, Eliel

The concept of the total work of art founds its realization no longer in the private home but monumental buildings such as the Central Station in Helsinki. Saarinen’s language of form has here crystallized and builds upon clear verticals. Nevertheless, ornament remains an inseparable part of the whole, whereby its task is to accentuate those components of the building of structural interest. A vital factor behind the design of the high vaulted roof was the introduction of concrete. Both Helsinki Central Station and Saarinen’s subsequent works were built in this new material.

This sketch of the Helsinki Railway Station from 1910 uses rear lighting to emphasize the tower. The main fa�ade is thereby put into shadow, but that only accentuates the varied forms. This sketch turned out to be an experiment, and all the final presentation drawings used more traditional lighting angles. Still, it is a daring approach for the time.

Helsinki Central Railway Station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The station is mostly clad in Finnish granite, and its distinguishing features are its clock tower and the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance.

The first railway station in Helsinki was built in 1860, as Finland’s first railway between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was opened. The station’s plans were drawn by the Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt ( 1857-1862). However, as the popularity of railways grew, the station turned out to be too small, and a contest was organised in 1904 to produce plans for a new station. The contest received 21 entries and was won by Eliel Saarinen, with a pure national romanticist design, which sparked off a vigorous debate about the architecture of major public buildings, with demands for a modern, rational style. Saarinen himself abandoned romanticism altogether and re-designed the station completely. The new design was finished in 1909, and the station was opened in 1919.

Helsinki Central Railway Station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The station is mostly clad in Finnish granite, and its distinguishing features are its clock tower and the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance.

The first railway station in Helsinki was built in 1860, as Finland’s first railway between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was opened. The station’s plans were drawn by the Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt (1857-1862). However, as the popularity of railways grew, the station turned out to be too small, and a contest was organised in 1904 to produce plans for a new station. The contest received 21 entries and was won by Eliel Saarinen, with a pure national romanticist design, which sparked off a vigorous debate about the architecture of major public buildings, with demands for a modern, rational style. Saarinen himself abandoned romanticism altogether and re-designed the station completely. The new design was finished in 1909, and the station was opened in 1919.

Helsinki Central Railway Station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The station is mostly clad in Finnish granite, and its distinguishing features are its clock tower and the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance.

The first railway station in Helsinki was built in 1860, as Finland’s first railway between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was opened. The station’s plans were drawn by the Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt (1857-1862). However, as the popularity of railways grew, the station turned out to be too small, and a contest was organised in 1904 to produce plans for a new station. The contest received 21 entries and was won by Eliel Saarinen, with a pure national romanticist design, which sparked off a vigorous debate about the architecture of major public buildings, with demands for a modern, rational style. Saarinen himself abandoned romanticism altogether and re-designed the station completely. The new design was finished in 1909, and the station was opened in 1919.

Helsinki Central Railway Station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The station is mostly clad in Finnish granite, and its distinguishing features are its clock tower and the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance.

The picture shows one of the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance.

Saarinen’s decor is here sparing and abstract. The “bears” and “frogs” of his youth have disappeared in favour of a preference for stylized human figures, which, incorporated into the vertical structure, fuse with the actual building.

Around 1907, Saarinen developed a new, unmistakable style of furniture design; as in his architecture, his forms became sharper in focus and more angled.

The chair for Hannes Saarinen was made by N. Boman’s joinery workshop, Kuopio. The upholstery is imitation leather with a snakeskin pattern.

On November 29, 1922, when the winners of the competition for the Chicago Tribune Tower had already been chosen, an entry arrived from Finland. The jury was so impressed by “the colossal beauty of this 11th-hour entry” that it awarded the design second prize. It was the work of Eliel Saarinen, whose son Eero would, in the 1950s and 1960s, become one of America’s best architects.

Saarinen’s Chicago Tribune Tower was never realized. Instead, his simplified modernist stepback skyscraper design influenced many other architects.

Hvitträsk is a mansion complex in Kirkkonummi, about 30 kilometres west of Helsinki. It was designed as a studio home for members of the Finnish architecture firm Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen, later becoming the private residence of Eliel Saarinen. The house was named after Lake Vitträsk, by which it was built. It currently operates as a museum.

In 1896, while still a student, Saarinen founded the architectural firm of Gesellius, Lindgren & Saarinen, known as GLS, together with Herman Geselius (1874-1916) and Armas Eliel Lindgren (1874-1929). The National Folk Museum of Finland (Suomen kansallismuseo) was designed and built by GLS.

Suur-Merijoki Manor is a ‘total work of art’. It is a dramatic fortified manor house in a forest setting, with heavy granite foundations, imposing gateways, a massive tower, an English hall with a wide flight of stairs up to the first floor, a billiard room, a boudoir, and a music room. The latter is furnished in exquisite harmony and adorned with wrought, woven, crocheted, painted and sculpted ornament of firmly established, beautiful simplicity.

Eliel Saarinen’s watercolour of 1902 shows the entrance lobby.

Suur-Merijoki Manor in Viipuri Province was a Finnish Art Nouveau masterpiece, a ‘total work of art’ that became one of the most famous Finnish homes of its era. It was commissioned by Swiss-born Maximilian Neuscheller (1860-1919), a wealthy, cosmopolitan businessman based in St. Petersburg who travelled widely and was a knowledgeable patron of the arts.

In 1900 Neuscheller purchased the Suur-Merijoki estate on the Karelia Isthmus, a popular vacationing spot among the St. Petersburg elite. Two years later, he enlisted the services of the promising Finnish architect trio to design a summer villa for himself and his family.

The young architects Herman Gesellius (1874-1916), Armas Lindgren (1874-1929) and Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950) founded a three-man architectural practice in 1896, while all three were still undergraduates. They made their first breakthrough as designers of the Finnish pavilion at the Paris World’s Fair. Wealthy Neuscheller offered the young architects a unique opportunity by giving them the chance to design a ‘total work of art’ in the Art Nouveau style, sparing no expense, complete with furniture and textiles. The architects were assisted by a large team of artisans, painters and sculptors. The manor was built in 1902-03.

Suur-Merijoki Major was situated in an unusual location atop a small hill in the middle of a spruce forest. The main villa had the look of a Gothic castle with medieval touches such as turrets, nature granite boulders in the plinths and elevations, and tapering windows.

Neuscheller died in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1919, after which his family sold the estate to the Finnish government in 1927. The manor was badly damaged during the Winter War, but some of its furnishings were salvaged and evacuated to Finland. The estate was relinquished to the Soviet Union in 1944. Today there is nothing left of the once-splendid manor but rubble and ruin.

Eliel Saarinen’s watercolour of 1902 shows the exterior of the manor.

Suur-Merijoki Manor is a ‘total work of art’. It is a dramatic fortified manor house in a forest setting, with heavy granite foundations, imposing gateways, a massive tower, an English hall with a wide flight of stairs up to the first floor, a billiard room, a boudoir, and a music room. The latter is furnished in exquisite harmony and adorned with wrought, woven, crocheted, painted and sculpted ornament of firmly established, beautiful simplicity.

Eliel Saarinen’s watercolour of 1902 shows the interior with the music room in the background.