Eliel Saarinen (1873–1950)
Entry 18
Helsinki, Finland
Saarinen graduated from the Department of Architecture in Helsinki
Polytechnic Institute. With Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren, he gained
early fame
with the partnership’s design for the Finnish pavilion at the 1900
Paris Exposition. He achieved individual prominence with his design for
Helsinki railway station, and opened his own office in 1907.
In 1911 he wrote a detailed commentary on the planning of Budapest,
and served as a consultant to the Town Planning Committee of the City
of
Tallinn, Estonia, advising on a town planning competition. He remained
interested
in city planning all his life. His most important contributions were
in Helsinki. He achieved international renown as an architect and moved
to
the United States in 1923. His urban planning theories are set forth
in a book published in 1943: The City, Its Growth, Its Decay, Its Future.
Saarinen’s plan for the governmental centre is particularly effective.
It has imposing axes linking prominent locations. The river is forced into
an artificial configuration, and has ten bridges, making it an expensive
plan to build.
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