Eliel Saarinen
Designer of Helsinki Railway Station, influencing organic modernism in America.
Most quoted
"Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan."
— from The City: Its Growth, Its Decay, Its Future, 1943
"Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context—a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in a city, a city in a landscape."
— from Book, 1947
"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."
— from Essay, 1930
All quotes by Eliel Saarinen (99)
The architect must be a student of human nature.
Every line, every curve, every plane must have a purpose.
The city is a symphony of human endeavors.
Architecture is the art of making space for life.
The architect must be a bridge between dreams and reality.
A building should be a natural extension of its landscape.
The true beauty of a building lies in its functionality and its spirit.
To build well is to serve humanity.
The architect's work is never truly finished; it lives and breathes with its occupants.
The city is a reflection of its people's aspirations.
Architecture is the art of how to waste space.
Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context—a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in a city, a city in a landscape.
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.
Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.
Beauty is the harmony of function and form.
In architecture, as in all art, the artist must first master the tools of his trade.
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Cities are the souls of civilizations.
Every great architect is necessarily a great poet.
Architecture begins where engineering ends.
Contemporaries of Eliel Saarinen
Other Architectures born within 50 years of Eliel Saarinen (1873–1950).