How Tomorrow Looked, Yesterday
Last week, General Motors’ design manager, Susan Skarsgard, spoke at the Museum of the City of New York on her book Where Today Meets Tomorrow, a monumental tome devoted to Eero Saarinen’s design of the GM Technical Center, in Warren, Michigan. Before her talk, Skarsgard was kind enough to give me a close-up tour of what is literally a one-of-a-kind book: Skarsgard personally put it together for the 50th anniversary of the Technical Center, in 2006, and there is only her one original copy. Which is a shame, because after spending an hour immersed in the scores of archival photos, plans, and other documents—not to mention pop-up models of interior spaces and a sumptuous fabric lining borrowed from the interior of a 1956 Cadillac—I almost felt like I had visited the iconic campus in person.
It was an ideal companion experience to Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, the first-rate exhibition on the architect’s career, which remains up at the MCNY only through Sunday. If you’re in New York this weekend and haven’t seen the show yet, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. After Sunday, it will travel to its last stop, in New Haven, where it will be on display at the Yale University Art Gallery and Yale School of Architecture Gallery from February 19 to May 2.
Related: Paul Makovsky toured the GM Technical Center, explaining why it is still a model corporate campus, and, in 2005, he interviewed the historian and critic Jane Merkel on Saarinen’s legacy. In 2008, we talked to several alumni of Saarinen’s office—including Kevin Roche, Robert Venturi, and Cesar Pelli—about Eero Saarinen and Associates’ unique problem-solving approach.
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This sounds like a fantastic book. Are there no plans for even a limited printing? I would love to have a copy!
-Mark
Comment by Mark Zeh — February 2, 2010, @ 10:55 pm
At the moment, there are no plans for publishing this book. However maybe down the road there will be a publisher who may have an interest in producing it. Since we are in the business of designing cars, it’s not really our area of expertise. Thank you though for your interest.
Best,
Susan
Comment by Susan Skarsgard — February 3, 2010, @ 4:03 pm
susan—i’m so disappointed that I missed your talk and to learn that no copy is available of all your hard work. Bunky Knudsen was my great uncle and (William Knudsen, my great grandfather) I’d love to know if he completed any work in this incredible facility.
The exhibition was fantastic and I particularly loved the short film about the GM design center.
All best,
carol
Comment by carol vanderkloot — February 7, 2010, @ 6:04 pm
Bunky Knudson did spend some time at Design Staff, he would be visiting the Pontiac Studio in the early sixties as the Vice President and General Manager of Pontiac Division. Jack Humbert was the Chief Designer and usually monthly meetings were held with Pontiac to make decisions on all the design aspects of all new Pontiac products.
He may have been made VP of Chevrolet, I cannot recall but he did leave for a position at Ford around 1965. if you look at the 1968 Ford you will see a strong Pontiac resemblance in the front of the car.
DICK RUZZIN
Comment by DICK RUZZIN — April 13, 2011, @ 7:47 pm
I worked at the Tech Center for more than 25 years, and 13 years in the R&D Center in computer science research.
It was inspiring to work there.
I sure would liek a copy of Susan Skarsgard’s book.
Comment by Arvid Martin — April 28, 2011, @ 10:41 am