Eero Saarinen Quotes

• Function influence but does not dictate form

  Eero Saarinen

  Doe, Influence, Form

  92 Copy quote

• The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man's life on earth and to fulfill his belief in the nobility of his existence.

  Eero Saarinen

  Men, Purpose, Earth

  Eero Saarinen (1962). “Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect”, New Haven : Yale University Press

  182 Copy quote

• I have come to the conviction that once one embarks on a concept for a building, this concept has to be exaggerated and overstated and repeated in every part of its interior so that wherever you are, inside or outside, the building sings with the same message.

  Eero Saarinen

  Messages, Building, Conviction

  Eero Saarinen, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Donald Albrecht (2006). “Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future”, p.353, Yale University Press

  145 Copy quote

• Confusion comes from trying to amalgamate several conflicting ideas.

  Eero Saarinen

  Ideas, Confusion, Trying

  Eero Saarinen (1962). “Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect”, New Haven : Yale University Press

  82 Copy quote

• To me the drawn language is a very revealing language: one can see in a few lines whether a man is really an architect.

  Eero Saarinen

  Men, Lines, Architecture

  Eero Saarinen (1962). “Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect”, New Haven : Yale University Press

  94 Copy quote

• I wanted to clear up the slum of legs… I wanted to make the chair all one thing again.

  Eero Saarinen

  Legs, Chairs, Clear

  Eero Saarinen (1962). “Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect”, New Haven : Yale University Press

  88 Copy quote

• What you newspaper and magazine writers, who work in rabbit time, don't understand is that the practice of architecture has to be measured in elephant time.

  Eero Saarinen

  Practice, Elephants, Rabbits

  Eero Saarinen (1962). “Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect”, New Haven : Yale University Press

  80 Copy quote

• Egyptian pyramids or obelisks – seemed to be the basis of the great memorials that have kept their significance and dignity across time. Neither an obelisk nor a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on this site or for this purpose. But here, at the edge of the Mississippi River, a great arch did seem right.

  Eero Saarinen

  Rivers, Arches, Domes

  "Eero Saarinen on His Work: A Selection of Buildings Dating from 1947 to 1964 with Statements by the Architect".

  85 Copy quote

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin