Explore the JFK TWA Terminal, a pristine time capsule from 1962

[A HERETIC I AM]

Some photos and a story about the re-boot, so to speak, of Architect Eero Saarinen's 1962 terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport;

In 2011, architecture critic Alexandra Lange, whose column now runs on Curbed.com, wrote about her experience visiting the terminal during Open House New York:

Saarinen's modernist iconoclasm was not just in the bird-like shape, so obvious to my four-year-old that he spent most of the visit searching for the eyes, the legs, the beak to go with the outspread wings. It is also in the building's pure, Beaux Arts symmetry. Those stone staircases were made for the sweep of a long gown, not the bump of wheelie suitcases. Even without the photographers, moving across the white slopes feels like a film trick, one in which you (the star!) are still and the scenery flows around you. Saarinen also accomplished the neat trick of putting the services on the inside, in dark areas that the French would have called poche. Today's airports put the people in the middle, away from the light and any sense of exterior orientation. The bulk is given over to ticketing and security, baggage and shops, so that people get only a narrow path. It's the opposite at TWA: the perimeter is for humans.

Many more photos and story found here;

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/06/30/explore_the_twa_terminal_a_pristine_time_capsule_from_1962.php

I am fascinated by architecture in general and the early 60's efforts are particularly interesting. Couple that with my affection for aviation, and.,...well..there you go! This terminal was of the same era and by the same architect as the famous main entrance to Dulles International, outside DC;

[Fred Sanders]

1. Saarinen's bird and wing design architecture is making a comeback in more progressive countries:

Last edited Sat Jul 11, 2015, 10:17 PM - Edit history (1)

........................

Clue as to location is in one of the photos.

Thanks for the thread.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Give us a hint...

When I did right click/save I saw it but I'd love to know which photo and what clue!

[Fred Sanders]

3. Sorry to play "Where's Waldo", one of my favourites, but the clue is there!

[dgauss]

5. Jets?

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Did you mean to say Saarinen?

The JFK and Dulles terminals are the work of Architect Eero Saarinen.

Alexandra Lange is a critic.

Photos are of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, right?

I know I'm right! Through the power of right click and Google maps!

[Warpy]

6. I have rotten eyesight, so I cheated, too

It was almost good the TWA building was closed all this time, everything has been preserved in pristine Jetsons condition. Two problems I always had with that type of architecture are that the building comes first, people are incidental and few things were provided for community or comfort; the second was the reek of cigarette smoke back then, something I have to wonder still persists after 54 years. I notice none of the seating areas had built in ashtrays, that was terribly unusual for the time and more evidence of the lack of consideration for people who would need to use the space.

It's the kind of public space the public only wants to get through as quickly as possible, as intimidating as it is soaring, hard edged, antiseptic white with a few islands of color here and there, the seating too sculptural to be inviting.

[Fred Sanders]

8. Next time in NY I will be sure to have a look. A real treasure.

[Fred Sanders]

7. Damn Internet right click ruins all the fun!