1925–1926, 1928–1929, Swanson and Booth with Eliel Saarinen. 39221 Woodward Ave.
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(Photograph by Balthazar Korab) -
(Photograph by Balthazar Korab) -
(Photograph by Balthazar Korab)
Saarinen extended the contemporized medieval vocabulary of Cranbrook School to the first buildings of the academy. These included the architectural office (1925–1926) and studios (1927–1929); the Arts and Crafts building, its addition, dormitory, and studios (1928–1929); and his own and Carl Milles's houses in the ensemble (1928–1930). Inside Saarinen House, the spatial flow along connecting interior axes, the dramatic studio space, and the integration of specially designed ornamentation all recall his earlier home at Hvittrask, outside Helsinki; at the same time, its streamlined articulations and decorative designs already speak of the more contemporary Art Moderne idiom.