01. TWA Brochure
Creator & Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
02. TWA Interior seen through Exterior Window
Photographer & Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
03. TWA Magazine Cover
Creator: unknown, Date: June 1962
04. TWA Publicity Packet
Creator & Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
05. TWA Terminal Interior
Photographer: Charles Eames, 1962
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
06. TWA Site Plan
Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
07. TWA Interior featured on Cover of St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine
Creator: unknown, Date: June 17, 1962.
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
08. TWA Terminal Interior
Photographer: Charles Eames, 1962
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
09. TWA Terminal Interior
Photographer: Charles Eames, 1962
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
10. TWA Terminal Exterior
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
11. TWA Souvenir Postcard
Creator & Date: unknown
12. TWA Terminal Interior
Photographer: Charles Eames, 1962
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
13. Model of TWA Terminal
Eero Saarinen (face in his right hand) with Cesar Pelli, Kevin Roche & other architects
Photographer & Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
13. TWA Exterior Aerial View
Photographer & Date: unknown
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
14. TWA Terminal Interior
Photographer: © Balthazar Korab, 1962
All images courtesy of the Eero Saarinen Collection Manuscripts & Archives – Yale University
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“All the curves, all the spaces and elements right down to the shape of the signs, display boards, railings and check-in desks were to be of a matching nature. We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed environment, in which each part arises from another and everything belongs to the same formal world.” —Eero Saarinen (1959)
(Architecture in the Twentieth Century, Peter Gossel & Gabriele Leuthauser, pg 250)
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Important note: If you are in the New York City area anytime between now and the end of January 2010, I strongly recommend catching the first (surprisingly) Saarinen retrospective exhibit (Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future) at the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY).
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Above are images (many taken by Charles Eames) of or related to mid-century modernist Eero Saarinen’s iconic Trans World Flight Center located at JFK Airport in New York City which was built between 1956-1962. Saarinen posthumously won the 1962 AIA Gold Metal Award for this work. Unfortunately, he died a year before the airport was dedicated. It is quite a marvel to gaze upon its dramatic and swooping bird-like concrete forms mirrored in the interior by its curvilinear signage and (original) furnishings. The TWA terminal is undoubtedly sculptural and futuristic, boldly reflecting the jet age. This fantastic piece of revivalist architectural expressionism generated much controversy at the time with purists of modern architecture. I applaud Finnish American Saarinen for his vision time and again. He is indeed my favorite modernist not only because of grand out of the box architectural works like this one but also for his keen design savvy encompassing furniture and product design as well. Stay tuned as I will be featuring many more of his design works in upcoming posts.
The Saarinen terminal was in operation until October of 2001. According to articles on Wikipedia, the City of New York had designated both the interiors and the exteriors a historic landmark in 1994 and in 2005 the National Park Service listed it on the National Register of Historic Places. Nonetheless, the incredible structure was alarmingly at risk of being possibly demolished or completely swallowed/encased by a new airport terminal in recent years. In 2004, the Municipal Art Society (MAS) of New York succeeded in nominating the facility to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of the 11 Most Endangered Places in America. A compromise was reached and the new JetBlue terminal designed by Gensler was built in a crescent shape around the original Saarinen terminal without closing it off from view although portions of it were sadly demolished. The new low profile JetBlue terminal was completed in 2008. Renovation to the orginal Saarinen structure is still underway.
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For further reading:
> Wikipedia
> MAS NYC
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
wonderful post! i loved seeing the photographs from charles eames as well. the shot looking down the hallway, reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from the movie “catch me if you can”. this building encompass so well the whole “jet-set” feel of traveling in the early sixties!
Eric, thanks for the comment! I agree, the Eames photography is pretty grand. And btw, that scene you speak of in “Catch Me if You Can” was actually filmed there in one of the old TWA arrival-departure tubes. :~)
very impressive. So stylish and bold!
Beautiful photos and a great post, I love your blog! Always liked him and oddly enough, he was my grandfather’s (no, not a famous architect himself!) roommate at Yale.
There is a special place in my heart for him and it’s wonderful that some of the pictures are by Eames. (I would have *loved* to have been a fly on the wall at that shoot).
I was 9 years old when I walked down the tunnel towards the main building of the TWA flight center. It was the first impression of my new home, NYC USA. It was a grand welcome stepping off the small space of what has been the grandest of airplanes the Boeing 747 into the vaulted curved structure of the flight center. I only recently, now 33 years later as I live my son’s childhood, began to re-imagine my own formative experiences and this single day is the most memorable in my recollection.
Hi Ryan, thanks so much for sharing this! What a fantastic introduction to your new homeland, a great memory no doubt. I know you will be sharing this story with your son if you have not already. All the best to you and your family!
–Amy
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