The Cold War-Era US Embassy Program & Modern New Canaan

Presented by the Onera Foundation in collaboration with The Glass House, the evening’s conversation will explore the profound influence of the Harvard Five—particularly Marcel Breuer and John Johansen—tracing their evolution from designing experimental modern homes in New Canaan to creating visionary U.S. embassies during the Cold War. The discussion will highlight how these innovative domestic designs, which introduced a new way of living, laid the foundation for an architectural language that promoted cultural and diplomatic exchange in the post–World War II era—an initiative known as the U.S. Embassy Program. The panel will also address the growing urgency to preserve these embassies as enduring landmarks of mid-century modernism and international relations.

Coinciding with two exhibitions related to Eero Saarinen’s architectural legacy (at the Onera Foundation and the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society), this panel discussion will explore 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 will also address the afterlives of these modernist embassies which have been decommissioned in recent years.