Visual art / Architecture & design
Loja Saarinen
1879–1968 · textile artist, sculptor
Finnish textile artist who founded Cranbrook's weaving department and designed the rugs and tapestries of its Saarinen buildings.
- Born
Helsinki, Finland- Died
aged 89- Birth name
- Minna Carolina Mathilde Louise Gesellius
- Detroit years
- 1925–1950s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Loja Gesellius trained as a sculptor in Finland and married the architect Eliel Saarinen, her brother's partner, in 1904. When the family moved to Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills in the mid-1920s, she turned to weaving. In 1928 she founded what became one of the most productive weaving departments in the United States, and she ran Studio Loja Saarinen, which produced rugs, curtains, tapestries and upholstery for the buildings her husband designed. Her largest commission was Kingswood School Cranbrook, whose interiors were furnished almost entirely by her studio, and her textiles also fill Saarinen House. Her designs favored simple geometric patterns with subtle contrasts of light and dark and complementary colors. The Saarinen family home, with her rugs on the floors, is now a house museum at Cranbrook.
Highlights
- Founded Cranbrook's weaving department in 1928
- Ran Studio Loja Saarinen, textile maker for Cranbrook buildings
- Designed textiles for Kingswood School and Saarinen House
- Wife of Eliel and mother of Eero and Pipsan Saarinen
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Lived here · 1930–1950
Saarinen House (Cranbrook)
The family home, furnished with her rugs and textiles; now a house museum.
Worked here · 1929–1931
Kingswood School Cranbrook
Her studio's largest commission: tapestries, rugs, curtains and upholstery for the girls' school.