Architecture Lecture | Saarinen House at Cranbrook: A Total Work of Art Thursday, September 12, 2024 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Saarinen House Dining Room
Saarinen House Book Room
Saarinen House Living Room and Book Room. Photography by James Haefner, Courtesy Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Curator Kevin Adkisson. Photography by Katie Severson, Courtesy Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
AIA Houston / Design Council / Sally Walsh Lecture
Speaker: Kevin Adkisson
In the leafy suburbs of Detroit, glowing behind a deceptively modest brick façade, is one of America’s most enchanting Art Deco interiors. Everything in the home of Finnish American designers Eliel and Loja Saarinen exists in harmony. Each object—from fork to table to tapestry, and from building to fountain to landscape—plays a part in an ambitious artistic and pedagogical vision. Completed in 1930, Saarinen House is a showcase of its designer-residents’ talents and a vision statement for the revolutionary Cranbrook community.
Rooted in the zealous mission of the Arts and Crafts movement, between 1918 and 1942 cofounders George and Ellen Booth transformed their private estate, Cranbrook, into a group of schools and museums. Under Eliel Saarinen’s leadership as President and architect, workshops for furniture making, metalsmithing, printing, weaving, and ceramics were established to outfit the campus. The Saarinens’ residence was the campus’ intellectual center and an aesthetic triumph with designs from both Eliel and Loja and their children, Pipsan and Eero.
Through vivid architectural drawings, archival photographs, and contemporary color images, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research Curator Kevin Adkisson will share the inspiring story of Cranbrook and Saarinen House, and the continued vision of Cranbrook Educational Community in this century.
Plan Your Visit
- Admission is free.
- This lecture takes place in Brown Auditorium Theater on the lower level of the Law Building. Seating is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map
About the Speaker
Curator Kevin Adkisson works on preservation, interpretation, and programming across the many buildings and treasures of Cranbrook. Since arriving as a Collections Fellow in 2016, Kevin has welcomed thousands of guests to Cranbrook’s National Historic Landmark campus, both in person and virtually. Through tours, lectures, and online programming, Kevin makes history come alive with a friendly, humorous nature, and deep passion for art and architecture. Before coming to Cranbrook, Kevin worked for Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York as a research and writing associate and at Kent Bloomer Studio in New Haven, Connecticut, on the design and fabrication of architectural ornament.
About the AIA Houston / Design Council / Sally Walsh Lecture
The annual AIA Houston (American Institute of Architects, Houston Chapter) Sally Walsh Lectures are dedicated to the memory of interior designer Sally Walsh, who brought modern design to Houston and inspired a generation. The Design Council is the MFAH patron group that supports the department of decorative arts, craft, and design.
This lecture is made possible by the American Institute of Architects, Houston and the Design Council at the MFAH.
All Learning and Interpretation programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive generous support from H-E-B; Institute of Museum and Library Services; Sempra Foundation; the Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; the John M. O'Quinn Foundation; the Joe Barnhart Foundation; the Cockrell Family Fund; the CFP Foundation; Macey and Harry Reasoner; the Texas Commission on the Arts; and the Junior League of Houston, Inc.
Endowment funds are provided by the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; Caroline Wiess Law; Windgate Foundation; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; Medha and Shashank Karve; Virginia and Ira Jackson; Jesse H. Jones II; the CFP Foundation; the Favrot Fund; gifts in memory of John Wynne; Neiman Marcus Youth Arts Education; gifts in memory of Peter Lotz; and gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.
On Thursday, admission to the MFAH Permanent Collections is free, courtesy of Shell USA, Inc.