
Celebrate an architectural love story for the ages when Eva Hagberg discusses her book When Eero Met His Match: Aline Louchheim Saarinen and the Making of an Architect (Princeton University Press, 2022).
Aline B. Louchheim (1914–1972) was an art critic on assignment for TheNew York Times in 1953 when she first met the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen (1910-1961). She would become his wife and the driving force behind his rise to critical prominence. When Eero Met His Match draws on the couple’s personal correspondence to reconstruct the early days of their thrilling courtship and traces Louchheim’s gradual takeover of Saarinen’s public narrative in the 1950s, the decade when his career soared to unprecedented heights, as well as after his untimely death.
Reflecting on her own experiences as an architecture journalist on the receiving end of press pitches and then as a secret publicist for high-end architects, Hagberg paints an unforgettable portrait of Louchheim while revealing the inner workings of a media world that has always relied on secrecy, friendship, and the exchange of favors. She describes how Louchheim codified the practices of architectural publicity that have become widely adopted today, and shows how, without Louchheim as his wife and publicist, Saarinen’s work would not have been nearly as well known.
Hagberg on Aline & Eero: Sunday, February 11, 2024; 1-2:30 PM PST; $5; go to www.sahscc.org and pay via PayPal or mail in order form with check. Zoom link sent upon registration.
