Saarinen Collection
Saarinen
- Tops available in marble, glass, liquid laminate, and - on special request - wood veneer.
- Marble:
- White Carrara, Black Marquinia, Calacatta and Arabescato are standard. Custom stone solutions available on request.
- Maintenance: marble is a porous material. We do not seal our stone tops because most installations perform routine maintenance and cleaning, which removes the sealant. Regular application of a protective sealant is recommended.
- All stone tops are natural marble, NOT polyester coated. GI does not offer this option as experience has found it unreliable.
- Maintenance: marble is a porous material. We do not seal our stone tops because most installations perform routine maintenance and cleaning, which removes the sealant. Regular application of a protective sealant is recommended.
- Glass:
- We offer a range of Saarinen tables developed to original Saarinen specifications and featuring glass surfaces.
- Liquid Laminate:
- We offer a range of Saarinen tables with liquid laminate surfaces. These tops are constructed of mdf with a durable, painted finish. Standard in white or black
- Base is available in white, silver or black painted aluminium.
Eero Saarinen 1910 - 1961
Eero Saarinen, the son of influential Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and his second wife, Louise, was born on his father's 37th birthday, August 20, 1910.
The family emigrated to the United States of America in 1923, when Eero was thirteen. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where his father was a teacher at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and he took courses in sculpture and furniture design there. He had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames.
Beginning in September 1929, he studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France. He then went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934.
Subsequently, he toured Europe and North Africa for a year and returned for a year to his native Finland, after which he returned to Cranbrook to work for his father and teach at the academy.
He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. Saarinen was recruited by Donal McLaughlin, an architectural school friend from his Yale days, to join the military service in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Saarinen was assigned to draw illustrations for bomb disassembly manuals and to provide designs for the Situation Room in the White House.
Saarinen worked full-time for the OSS until 1944. After his father's death in 1950, Saarinen founded his own architect's office,"Eero Saarinen and Associates".
Eero Saarinen died of a brain tumor in 1961 at the age of 51.
