“Enthusiasm for Art in Architecture”. Eero Saarinen e gli artisti

Referring to the MIT chapel, designed by him and completed in 1955, Eero Saarinen wrote in 1957: “We knew that the we wanted some kind of spire. Was this an architect’s problem or a sculptor’s problem? Finally, we decided that it was a little bit of both. We determined what the general shape should be and then went to the sculptor, who refined it, because he should have greater sensitivity and more imagination for form than the architect has”. Based on archival documentation, the essay analyzes the fundamental role of art in Eero Saarinen’s architecture, reconsidering his relationships with numerous artists, often involved in interesting “dialogues”: from his friend Harry Bertoia to Stuart Davis and Theodore Roszak, from Antoine Pevsner and Alexander Calder to Costantino Nivola. Reading the case study in the broader context of the debate on the “synthesis of the arts” in the American cultural scene of the 50s, the article highlights also the contribution of the art critic Aline Bernstein Saarinen, the architect’s second wife, to his choices and to his project practice.