Entrance to the US Embassy in Oslo, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1959. US Department of State, Image courtesy of the National Archives
Coinciding with New Canaan October4design 2025, this panel discussion explored Saarinen’s contributions to design innovation and its legacy abroad, most notably the two embassies Saarinen designed in London and Oslo as part of the initiative known as the US Embassy Program. The panel also addressed the afterlives of these modernist embassies, which have been decommissioned in recent years.
Presenters
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Professor at Yale School of Architecture, and author of Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future
David Peterson, Founder and President of the Onera Foundation, and author of US Embassies of the Cold War: The Architecture of Democracy, Diplomacy, and Defense
Jorge Otero-Pailos, Artist, Preservation Architect, and Director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation