When Eero Met His Match: Aline Louchheim Saarinen and the Making of an Architect

by Eva Hagberg

Overview

A uniquely personal biographical account of Louchheim’s life and work that takes readers inside the rarified world of architecture media

Aline B. Louchheim (1914–1972) was an art critic on assignment for the New York Times in 1953 when she first met the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen. She would become his wife and the driving force behind his rise to critical prominence. When Eero Met His Match draws on the couple’s personal correspondence to reconstruct the early days of their thrilling courtship and traces Louchheim’s gradual takeover of Saarinen’s public narrative in the 1950s, the decade when his career soared to unprecedented heights.

Drawing on her own experiences as an architecture journalist on the receiving end of press pitches and then as a secret publicist for high-end architects, Eva Hagberg paints an unforgettable portrait of Louchheim while revealing the inner workings of a media world that has always relied on secrecy, friendship, and the exchange of favors. She describes how Louchheim codified the practices of architectural publicity that have become widely adopted today, and shows how, without Louchheim as his wife and publicist, Saarinen’s work would not have been nearly as well known.

Providing a new understanding of postwar architectural history in the United States, When Eero Met His Match is both a poignant love story and a superb biographical study that challenges us to reconsider the relationship between fame and media representation, and the ways the narratives of others can become our own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691206677
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	09/13/2022
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	1,067,546
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Eva Hagberg teaches in the Language and Thinking Program at Bard College and at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. Her books include How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship and Nature Framed: At Home in the Landscape. She lives in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction, or, How to Read This Book 1

Chapter 1 Women in the Design World, Then and Now 5

Chapter 2 When Aline Met Eero 23

Chapter 3 On Becoming a Publicist 75

Chapter 4 Kresge and Ingalls: A Comparison 87

Chapter 5 Why Fame? 112

Chapter 6 "Bones for a 'Bird'": Publishing TWA 117

Chapter 7 On the Loss of a Client and Friend 153

Chapter 8 "I Really Am Not Interested in That Project" 157

Epilogue 178

Acknowledgments 181

Notes 185

Bibliography 201

Index 209

Credits 215

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A hybrid romp through modernism, Eva Hagberg’s When Eero Met His Match is both a paean to Aline Louchheim’s tireless work behind the scenes to promote Eero Saarinen and a compelling personal narrative, encompassing the vital, often invisible work of storytellers in shaping America’s love affair with architecture.”—Emily Maloney, author of Cost of Living

“Eva Hagberg brings a relationship to life and illustrates how critical and promotional language shape the story of architecture, gently melting opinions into accepted history. Quick and brilliant.”—Sasha Frere-Jones, writer and musician

“There is a serious need to question the focus on the ‘master architect’ as a lone genius. When Eero Met His Match examines the crucial role of the media and of mediation between architect and press, shedding light on a hidden part of architectural culture, the role of the publicist.”—Hilde Heynen, University of Leuven, author of Architecture and Modernity: A Critique

“When Eero Met His Match sheds new light on Eero Saarinen, one of architecture’s prominent modernist figures, and claims an equal role for his partner Aline Louchheim Saarinen. A thorough and original investigation of the role of communication, public relations, and the media in shaping the architectural canon, Hagberg’s book powerfully superimposes the author’s own personal contemporary experience with that of her subject.”—Amale Andraos, designer and cofounder of WORKac

Editorial Reviews

A Fast Company Best Design Book of the Year

From the Publisher

"When Eero Met His Match is a good choice for anyone with an interest in architectural media and its inner workings. It offers fresh new biographical perspectives on Saarinen and Louchheim along with a series of insights into the intricate web connecting architecture, art and the media in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s."

The Finnish Architectural Review