b. 1879 d. 1968
Site Affiliation: Saarinen House
Loja Saarinen studied at the Art School of the Finnish Academy in Helsinki and trained in sculpture at the Academy Colarossi in Paris. For Hvitträsk, where the Saarinens lived after their marriage in 1904, Loja designed furniture and lighting, produced sculptures, and designed and maintained a formal garden. She frequently collaborated with her husband Eliel on his architectural projects, sculpting large-scale clay models and directing photography—work that would continue in America.
At Cranbrook, Loja worked not only as a weaver, but also as a designer, landscape gardener, and entrepreneur. She designed the Saarinen House landscape, and the iconic landscape surrounding the Triton Pools in front of Cranbrook Art Museum.
It is her work as the founder and head of Studio Loja Saarinen, a commercial weaving studio, that established her reputation. In addition to textiles for Cranbrook, including Saarinen House, the Studio completed commissions for residences, businesses, and offices across the country. These included rugs and upholstery fabric commissioned by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar J. Kaufmann’s private office in Pittsburgh.
Primary Medium: Textiles
Primary Stylistic Term: Modernism
HAHS Affiliations: Loja was married to architect Eliel Saarinen. Tiles by artist Henry Chapman Mercer are installed in the Saarinen House interiors.
Recommended Publications: Saarinen House and Garden: A Total Work of Art, eds. by Gregory Wittkopp and Diana Balmori (1995); The Creative Spirit of Cranbrook: The Early Years (1972)