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)
Innovation in building comes from tradition.
A building's life is measured by its adaptability.
Beauty is not ornament, but proportion.
The city is a living organism.
Architecture demands respect for the site.
True design serves the people.
Form must evoke emotion.
The architect's role is to dream in stone.
Space is the canvas of architecture.
Legacy is built one structure at a time.
Harmony arises from balance.
The future of architecture lies in integration.
Every line in a building has purpose.
Architecture reflects the spirit of the age.
Create spaces that inspire.
The soul of a building is its light.
Design is thinking made visual.
Beauty endures through simplicity.
In the end, buildings must touch the heart.
Contemporaries of Eliel Saarinen
Other Architectures born within 50 years of Eliel Saarinen (1873–1950).