Saarinen, (Gottlieb) Eliel (1873-1950)

Finnish-born US architect and town planner. He founded the Finnish Romantic school. His best-known European project is the Helsinki railway station (1905-14). In 1923 he emigrated to the USA, where he is remembered for his designs for the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (1926-43), and Christ Church, Minneapolis (1949).

He was born at Rantasalmi, Finland, trained in Helsinki, and started practice there in 1896. After intensive study of railway stations in Germany and Britain, he won the competition for Helsinki station in 1904. He then prepared town plans for Helsinki, Budapest, and Reval; was placed second in the competition for Canberra; won the competition for the new Finnish Parliament buildings (not erected); and built the City Hall at Lahti, Finland (1911). After emigrating to Chicago, he designed the lake-front scheme and did some teaching. The large amount of work designed by him in America includes the Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo (1938); Church of Christ Scientist, Colombus, Indiana; the museum at Des Moines; and several educational buildings.