Finnish architect and furniture designer, son of noted architect Eliel Saarinen. Lived most of his life in the US and eventually became a US citizen in 1940. Eero Saarinen was experimental in his methods and broke with established traditions in post-war architecture. Began his professional work when joining his fathers practice in 1936 after graduating from Yale and travelling in Europe for three years on a fellowship.
He mostly build institutional and industrial buildings, including two US. Embassys, the Dulles International Airport and several schools. His work on schools was a major influence on schools for primary-grade children, with his one-storied buildings with extensive use of ground. His breakthrough as an independent architect came when he designed The Gateway Arch for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
Eero Saarinen was, like many other architects, as well as his father, intrigued by furniture design, and particularly by chairs.