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The CBS Building was designed by Eero Saarinen, whose other designs ranged from the Gateway Arch, the General Motors Technical Center, and Dulles International Airport's main terminal to chairs for the Knoll company. The George A. Fuller Company was the general contractor for the project.
The CBS Building in New York City, or Black Rock, is an imposing 38-story building of black marble. Leaning away from the glass and concrete construction of the time, Saarinen wanted to...
The CBS Building © CTBUH. Stepping away from the International Style of modernism reigning in the 1950s, Saarinen designed the 38 storeyed rectangular building made of reinforced concrete covered in charcoal-colored granite facade. This building came to be the first post-war concrete skyscraper of Manhattan.
- Childhood
- Education
- Early Work
- Mature Period
- Death
- The Legacy of Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was, along with Louis Kahn, one of the two great European emigres who would become titans of midcentury American architecture. Both were born in areas around the Baltic Sea that, at the time of their births, were technically part of Russia, though Saarinen's family was decidedly Finnish (Finland became independent of Russia during the...
The Saarinens immigrated to the United States in 1923, after Eliel's entry in the famed Chicago Tribune Tower competition won second place. (The same week, Eero won a matchstick design contest sponsored by a Swedish newspaper, which netted him 30 Swedish kroner, the equivalent of about $8 at the time.) Two years later, Eliel accepted an invitation ...
In 1936 Eero returned to the United States and began to teach at Cranbrook and work in his father's architecture firm in Bloomfield Hills, where he would remain until 1950. In 1939 he married the sculptor Lilian Swann, with whom he eventually had two children, Eric and Susan. Eric later went on to become a filmmaker, producing the 2016 documentary ...
Eliel Saarinen died in 1950. But even before then Eero had shown signs that he would make a serious name for himself apart from his father. In 1948, both Saarinens had independently submitted competition designs for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis - literally creating their separate submissions on opposite sides of a wall in ...
In August 1961, Saarinen complained of headaches as he was preparing for his firm to move from Detroit to New Haven, Connecticut, and checked himself into a Michigan hospital to seek a quick remedy. Doctors discovered instead that he had a brain tumor, and Saarinen elected to undergo an operation that promised a very slim chance of survival. He die...
Initially, Saarinen's fame suffered greatly due to his early death. He was not physically present at the completion and dedication of many of his most important buildings, and could not reap the benefits of sharing the spotlight or attracting new clients as a result. The brevity of his independent career meant that for some he would always be seen ...
- Finnish-American
- August 20, 1910
- Kirkkonummi, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
- September 1, 1961
May 23, 2016 · CBS Building, 1965, New York Saarinen’s foray into skyscrapers proved heavy and dark. The architect hit the heart of the modern office archetype with this blocky form.
- Beau Peregoy
Aug 17, 2021 · Designed by Eero Saarinen, the striking black-windowed tower at West 52nd Street and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan is one of the best-known examples of urban mid-20th century...
Dec 27, 2016 · Eero Saarinen's Design of the CBS Building in New York City | American Masters | NJ PBS. American Masters | Clip Eero Saarinen's Design of the CBS Building in New York City. The CBS Building in New York City, or Black Rock, is an imposing 38-story building of black marble.
