TWA Flight Center

The TWA Flight Center opened in 1962 was designed by Eero Saarinen for Trans World Airlines at New York City's Idlewild Airport soon thereafter renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport. Saarinen's original design featured a prominent wing-shaped thin shell roof over the head house or main terminal; unusual tube-shaped red-carpeted departure-arrival corridors; and tall windows enabling expansive views of departing and arriving flights. Although portions of the original complex have been demolished, the Saarinen-designed head house has been renovated and is partially encircled by the new JetBlue terminal building, which was completed in 2008. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK Airport, announced plans to convert the original head house into a hotel, to open in 2019. Both the interior and the exterior were declared a New York City Landmark in 1994. In 2005, the terminal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location

Queens, New York

Architect & Date

Eero Saarinen, 1962

Client

Beyer Blinder Belle

Services Provided

Our work at the TWA Flight Center involved archival research, conditions surveys, on site and laboratory based testing, nondestructive evaluation, as well as the implementation of selective probes, in the hopes that this data could help us understand and confirm the original materials and methods used, define changes over time, define priorities, and design conservation treatment options that would be both physically and aesthetically in balance with the original materials. The data developed as a result of this work was incorporated into a detailed set of specifications and construction drawings and details.