![]() Nevertheless, the combination of Eric's footage, archival materials, and interviews with Kevin Roche, César Pelli, Rafael Viñoly, Robert A. Combined with the exploration of Eero's personal life interspersed between the buildings, the documentary cannot go into the depth his architecture deserves perhaps a 90-minute length would have been better. Over the course of the documentary's hour we see just over ten Saarinen buildings. These three figures – Eric Saarinen, Peter Franzeén, and Moby – overlap at times, as when Eric's drone footage of the Gateway Arch is accompanied by a reading from Saarinen and Moby's oft-used "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" (evident in the below clip on the competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial). A further distraction comes from the Moby soundtrack, since at times it adds all-too-familiar sounds to the mix. Unfortunately, Franzén's readings border on the robotic, making them a distraction from Saarinen's words. ![]() Much of the narration is provided by Eric, but when it comes to the words of Eero those are narrated by Finnish actor Peter Franzén (Aline Saarinen is voiced by Blythe Danner). Although directed by Peter Rosen, the documentary can be seen as the product of Eric Saarinen, the descendent of two great architects (son of Eero and grandson of Eero's father Eliel) and the doc's cinematographer. Even for those well versed in Saarinen, The Architect Who Saw the Future has a number of surprises, most of them coming from archival footage and new interviews. I got a peek at the one-hour documentary and would definitely recommend it, particularly for those who only have a rudimentary understanding of Saarinen's life and buildings. Louis, the TWA Terminal in New York, and Dulles Airport in DC from his short career (he died in 1961 at the age of 51), Eero Saarinen is definitely worthy of being added to the show's small number of architects. With such masterpieces as the Gateway Arch in St. Buckminster Fuller (1996), Frank Gehry (2006), Philip Johnson (2003), and I.M. If Wikipedia is accurate, this is the sixth time the series has profiled an architect he follows episodes on Charles and Ray Eames (2011), R. Two days after Xmas architect Eero Saarinen is getting the American Masters treatment, when PBS premieres Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future.
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