Pipsan Saarinen Swanson Biography
Pipsan Saariner Swanson was born in Kirkkonummi, Finland. She completed studies in weaving, ceramics and textile design at the Atheneum Art School and the University of Helsinki. In 1923 he moved to the United States with his family and they settled permanently in Bloomfield Hills, when his father became the resident architect at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Swanson was part of a period of great academic ferment in Cranbrook known as the " golden moment." In the Cranbrook context, he holds the first course on contemporary furniture design. In 1935, both she and her mother exhibited their textiles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Swanson later left the academy to work with her husband, forming Swanson Associates in 1947, the first architectural firm with interior design services integrated. Within the studio, Swanson is primarily responsible for interior design. Among the projects completed by the couple is The Koebel House, located in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. One of its best-known products is a line of indoor-outdoor furniture called Sol-Air Group, produced by Ficks Reed. In collaboration with his brothers, Swanson also creates various other furnishings and decorative objects, such as lamps, glassware, textiles and ceramics. Swanson has been an industrial design consultant for companies such as Barwick Mills, Goodall Fabrics and Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. In 1972 she was awarded the title of honorary member of the American Institute of Architects.
