These quotations will give a more complete picture of my connection to Saarinen and his colleagues. The vision symbolized by the Arch together with the excellence of its design is what has inspired my own work. It is the reason for many years of pro-bono work to safeguard the legacy of Saarinen's best known icon.
Practically all of the currently living architects who worked with Saarinen and Dan Kiley have written that if those two were still alive, they would have approved of the Eco Arch. Robert Burley, FAIA, wrote in a referral letter, "As Designer-in-charge (1959-1964) for Eero Saarinen on the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and Arch, I feel comfortable that Saunders Schultz's holistic, site specific work would be an excellent fit. He would be a fine choice. Eero selected Sandy for collaboration on one of his earlier projects."
Glen Paulson was the project architect for Concordia Senior College in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I worked with Eero Saarinen. He spoke of his experience with my process: "The sculpture (by Saunders Schultz) for Eero Saarinen's Concordia Senior College is an appropriate integration of art and architecture which has stood well against the test of time. Unlike most sculptors, Schultz is concerned with creating art that derives its meaning and character from its surroundings. His sculpture makes a notable contribution to the current state of art."
George Hoover, FAIA, in a supportive letter quoted Charles Eames: "Each of Eero Saarinen's buildings is a model of its special problems. His shortcut was that he put more energy into clarifying the unique nature of each problem. The process was free from preconceptions and open to new concepts." He then went on to write: "Saunders Schultz has these same qualities. I have been impressed by the extraordinary variety of his work in concept and execution. He discusses each work in the context of the particular circumstances surrounding it, his search for the unique problem to be solved and his struggle to find the form that will underlie a solution. His 'style' is of this process, as was Saarinen's."