Designing Cranbrook: The Saarinens’ Eclectic Vision

In 1925, George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth, the founders of Cranbrook, invited Finnish-born architect Eliel Saarinen to begin transforming their country estate into an ambitious campus of educational, artistic, and scientific inquiry. The endeavor was a collaborative project shaped by the Saarinen family, including sculptor and textile artist Loja Saarinen and their children, Pipsan and Eero. Between 1925 and 1942, the design of the campus unfolded beginning with the Cranbrook School for Boys (1931); the family’s own residence, Saarinen House (1930); the Kingswood School for Girls (1931); the Academy of Art, a graduate art, design, and architecture school (1932); the Cranbrook Institute of Science (1938); and a new home for Cranbrook Art Museum (1942)—each successive building stylistically distinct from the last. 

Rooted in the Arts and Crafts movement, the Saarinens incorporated a wide array of influences, including the Prairie School style, Machine Age modernism, and the Greek Revival style, often employing several modes within a single building. Eliel’s eclectic inspirations set him apart from his more dogmatic architect peers, whether modern or traditional. 

Rather than a collection of discrete styles, the exhibition argues that the sum of these architectural references is greater than its parts. The family’s eclectic and varied sources of inspiration continue to skew visitors’ perceptions of time and place, surprising and delighting both residents and visitors, even after repeat pilgrimages to campus. This installation explores a selection of multi-layered inspirations that culminated in the Saarinens’ idiosyncratic vision for Cranbrook.