JFK's Retro-Futuristic Pan Am Terminal Is Slowly Being Demolished

[n2doc]

MATT NOVAK
Today 1:04pm

Despite some last ditch efforts to save it, the JFK airport's 1960 Googie-style Pan Am terminal is currently being destroyed. Once an important symbol of tomorrowism, this iconic Worldport™ will soon find itself a pile of retro-futuristic rubble.

First opened to the public on May 24, 1960, Terminal 3 was designed by the firm Tippets-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton and immediately became an important backdrop for this particular golden age of futurism — as much a promise of things to come as a building that existed in the here and now. The terminal was used in print advertisements to evoke a feeling of Jet Age romanticism, even for products that were firmly planted on the ground.



This 1962 ad from Chevrolet promised pedal pushers of the original Jetsons era that driving an Impala was something akin to flying in a jet. Advertisers selling a diverse array of products — from pens to refrigerators to cosmetics — were all clamoring to associate themselves with techno-utopian, leisure society thinking. This car wouldn't just give you a smooth ride, it was "jet-smooth."


more

http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/jfks-retro-futuristic-pan-am-terminal-is-being-slowly-749907994

sad

[snooper2]

1. That looks like a waste of roof, how much snow can that thing hold before collapsing?

[n2doc]

2. Well it has held up all this time

Remember, people often used stairs to the tarmac to exit those jets. Still do in many places. That roof would come in handy!

[Politicalboi]

3. 54 years

I would say that is pretty good. Not like a WTC that falls 10 stories a second due to "fire".

[snooper2]

5. Only you would be able to bring truthy into this thread

Props for that-

To make it complete I'll add the monkey

[MineralMan]

4. I flew out of that terminal on my way to my USAF assignment

in Turkey in 1967. Pan Am Flight 1. But I saw it from inside, and didn't really notice the architecture. 15 months later, I flew into JFK and that terminal on my way home. It'll be sad to see it torn down.

[TeeYiYi]

6. This thread needs a ray gun...

TYY

[TeeYiYi]

8. ...and some Jetsons architecture...

TYY

[Initech]

7. The TWA terminal is gone except for the entrance.

I saw them demolishing T3 when I flew out of JFK last month. Maybe when they rebuild T3 they'll rebuild it exactly as is but with modern amenities.

[brooklynite]

10. T3 is disappearing completely...and so is T2

I spoke to my sources at the Port Authority. T3 is being demolished for plane storage. Eventually Delta will move its remaining flights out of T2 (same age but far less ambiance), and the space will be used to expand T1 (Air France/Alitalia/Lufthansa/JAL)

Sad...my dream was that they could have kept the historic part of T3 as a check-in/lounge for Business Class; maybe drive you over to your plane by car like Lufthansa does in Frankfurt.

[JHB]

9. The "jet set" now uses private or chartered jets...

...so they don't need such big terminals. And guess upkeep was a bit much for SteerageAir.

[brooklynite]

11. Terminal 3 wasn't big...

The historic section was only 8 gates.