Getting lift-off

摘要

This exhibition helps destroy the myth that Saarinen was essentially an Expressionist whose architecture was mannered and indulgent. Curated by Brian Carter, who as a recent dean of architecture at the University of Michigan inherited a strong Saarinen connection, the exhibition presents him as a rational architect who used technology in a poetic way. The technology of aerospace, the car industry and tractor manufacture was transformed into beautiful sculptural buildings with the help of clients who became part of the design team. This exhibition presents a picture of architects, engineers, artists and company executives working together to evolve novel design solutions. In this sense it is an optimistic view of American architectural practice after the war.