Originally built as the TWA Flight Center at Idlewild Airport in New York this historic mid-century structure built of concrete, steel and glass was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1955 as a monument to TWA and aviation itself. Opened in 1962 it represents an abstraction of the idea of flight. The fluidity of the exterior was carried through into the interior with the vaulted roof allowing for spacious and free-flowing layout without spatial boundaries. The four roof sections are separated by narrow skylights with a circular pendant at the center point where all four come together. Every interior element, walkways, ceilings, and windows are curved including two tubular corridors leading to the TWA gates.
The terminal opened in 1962 and quickly became obsolete for its intended purpose due to industry migration from propeller airplanes to larger jet powered airliners. The TWA Flight Center was placed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2005 which guaranteed its survival to the present day. An eventual restoration and renovation as an airport hotel started in 2016 and was completed three-years later. The terminal features the hotel reception area with dining, bars and communal meeting places which has been restored to its original design concept down to the TWA colors and staff uniforms A restored 1958 Lockheed Constellation has been repurposed into the Connie Cocktail Lounge, which unfortunately was booked for a private party the afternoon we were there. The departure/arrival tubes lead to new building housing modern hotel accommodations.
A stunning example of mid-century design by one of the world’s foremost architects, TWA Hotel accessible from Terminal 5 is worth visiting the next time you lay-over at JFK.
All images were taken with Fuji X100f with 23mm f2.0 lens in RAW format, processed in Lightroom Classic CC 11.0.1