Eliel saarinen biography graphic organizer

Biography

Finnish architect, urban planner and designer. From 1893 to 1897, Saarinen studied painting at Helsinki University and architecture at Helsinki Polytechnic.

He later painted only as a hobby. In 1896, while still a student, he founded the architectural firm of Gesellius, Lindgren & Saarinen, known as GLS, together with Herman Geselius (1874-1916) and Armas Eliel Lindgren (1874-1929).

Famous finnish architecture

Alongside public buildings, they also designed private villas, in which they realized the principle of total work of art (e.g. Suur-Merijoki manor house in Viipuri, 1903). For this reason, from the 1890s onwards, Saarinen also designed furniture, like his buildings drew upon Finnish tradition.

Saarinen's first buildings were strongly influenced by the Finnish Gothic Revival and the English Arts and Crafts Movement.

Their interiors, which frequently originated from the workshop of Gallen-Kallela, revealed predominantly Art Nouveau elements. In his later buildings, forms became more abs