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Trans World Airlines Flight Center
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NYC Landmark
The terminal's head house in 2010
Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Location	Terminal 5, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Queens, New York 11430 United States
Area	17.6 acres (7.1 ha)
Architect	Eero Saarinen and Associates; et al.
Architectural style	Futurist, Neo-futurist, Googie, Fantastic
NRHP reference #	05000994[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 7, 2005
Designated NYCL	July 19, 1994

The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The terminal, which opened in 1962, was designed for Trans World Airlines by Eero Saarinen.

The 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 jets. The design straddles the Futurist, Neo-futurist, Googie and Fantastic architectural styles.^[2]

Although portions of the original complex have been demolished, the Saarinen-designed head house has been renovated and is partially encircled by a replacement terminal building, which was completed in 2008. Together, the old and new buildings make up JetBlue Airways' JFK operations and have been known collectively since 2008 as Terminal 5 or simply T5. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which operates JFK Airport, had once intended the TWA Flight Center as a ceremonial entrance to the replacement terminal. In 2016, the PANYNJ started converting the original head house into the TWA Hotel, which is slated 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. Noted architect Robert A. M. Stern has called the TWA Flight Center the "Grand Central of the jet age".^[3] The pragmatic new encircling terminal has been called "hyper-efficient"^[4] and a "monument to human throughput".^[5]

History

1955-1962: Planning, design, & construction

Early site model showing satellite passenger piers.

While New York International Airport at Idlewild had been operating since 1939, the need and site for a Trans World Airlines (TWA) terminal was laid out in a 1955 plan in which each major airline would build its own terminal, while smaller airlines would be served from an International Arrivals Building.^[6] TWA had begun flying internationally in 1946 from New York's LaGuardia Airport with flights to Paris, London, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Lisbon and Madrid.^[7] In 1950, as both a domestic and international carrier, the former Transcontinental and Western Airlines changed its name to Trans World Airways.^[8] By 1955, TWA, being among New York's major airlines, undertook to build its own terminal at what was then commonly called Idlewild Airport.^[9]

After the opening of the International Arrivals Building in 1957, the major US airlines each built their own terminals at Idlewild. United Airlines and Eastern Air Lines opened their own terminals in 1959, followed by American Airlines and Pan American World Airways (Worldport) in 1960, Northwest Airlines and TWA in 1962. The National Airlines Sundrome would be last, in 1969.^[10]

Construction photo showing self-supporting thin-shell construction.

Eero Saarinen and his Detroit-based firm were commissioned in 1955 to design the TWA Flight Center.^[11] Saarinen, who projected a high patronage for the terminal, conceived the terminal to speed up processes. At the same time, the bird-shaped, emblematic construction featured a harmoniously coordinated interior and references to TWA's corporate identity and thus served to convey the company's image. Saarinen planned the appearance of the building from a purely formal perspective mainly to exploit market opportunities. Thus, the TWA Terminal represents an entirely different approach than the thin concrete shells constructed at the same time. The terminal was built to span a space with a minimum of material. Saarinen, who was known as an indefatigable architect, indicated to his client that he needed more time, then took another year to resolve the design.^[2] The airline, with the support of Saarinen's wife Aline, exploited the new market opportunity to carry out a most successful marketing campaign starting with the building's first public presentation on November 12, 1957.^[12]

The terminal is a pioneering example of thin-shell construction, consisting of a reinforced concrete shell supported at the corners.^[13] To engineer the roof, Saarinen collaborated with Charles S. Whitney and Boyd G. Anderson of the firm Ammann & Whitney. Saarinen had worked with the same team in 1953 to 1955 in executing the Kresge Auditorium and would work with them on the main terminal at Dulles International Airport ^[13]

From the Saarinen office, Kevin Roche, Cesar Pelli, Norman Pettula, and Edward Saad were key collaborators. Warren Platner was largely responsible for the interiors.^[14] When Saarinen died unexpectedly of a brain tumor in 1961, Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo led the realization of New York's TWA Terminal.^[15]

1962–2001: Original terminal

Exterior view

The completed terminal was dedicated May 28, 1962.^[16][17] The same year, Saarinen won the AIA Gold Medal posthumously, having died in 1961. The airport's name was changed to John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1963.^[18]

The terminal was one of the first with enclosed passenger jetways,^[20]closed circuit television, a central public address system, baggage carousels,^[20] electronic schedule board and baggage scales, and the satellite clustering of gates away from the main terminal.^[20] Food and beverage services included the Constellation Club, Lisbon Lounge, and Paris Café. However, as with many terminals designed before the advent of jumbo jets, increased passenger traffic and security issues, the design proved difficult to update as air travel evolved; terminal gates close to the street made centralized ticketing and security checkpoints difficult.^[21]

In 1969, the terminal received a new departure-arrival concourse and lounge. Known as Flight Wing Two, the expansion was designed by Roche-Dinkeloo to accommodate then-new wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 747.^[21]

The City of New York designated both the interiors and the exteriors of the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal a historic landmark in 1994.^[20]

A footbridge spans the terminal

Original concourse

Union News restaurants coffee shop by Raymond Loewy

2001–2005: Closure and landmark status

Following TWA's continued financial deterioration during the 1990s and the eventual sale of its assets to American Airlines, the terminal ended operations in October 2001.^[22] The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) first proposed converting the head house into a restaurant or conference center, while encircling the existing building with one or possibly two new terminals. The concept received opposition from the Municipal Art Society (MAS) of New York, as well as the architects Philip Johnson and Robert A.M. Stern.^[23] The opposition suggested the building, which brought passengers into immediate view of the sky and aircraft beyond, would be "strangled" if wrapped by another terminal, and that wrapping the Saarinen head house with another terminal would not preserve the spirit of the building but would mummify it "like flies in amber."^[23] Philip Johnson, speaking at the 2001 presentation, said of the proposal:

In 2004, the dormant terminal briefly hosted an art exhibition called Terminal 5,^[24] featuring the work of 19 artists from 10 countries.^[21][25] The theme of the show featured work, lectures and temporary installations drawing inspiration from the terminal's architecture^[21] — and was to run from October 1, 2004 to January 31, 2005^[21] — though it closed abruptly after the building itself was vandalized during its opening gala.^[11][26][27] That same year, the Municipal Art Society 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.^[24]

In 2005, the National Park Service listed the TWA Flight Center on the National Register of Historic Places.^[28]

2005–present: JetBlue terminal

The JetBlue T5 reopening logo

Components of JFK T5:

• 
       Original 1962 Saarinen terminal


• 
       2008 Gensler-designed terminal

Interior of the new JetBlue terminal

In December 2005, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) began construction of a new terminal facility for JetBlue Airways, which occupied the adjacent Terminal 6 and was the airport's fastest-growing carrier—behind and partially encircling Saarinen's original gull-winged building (also known as the head house^[28]). Peripheral portions of the original facility were demolished to make space for a mostly new 625,000-square-foot (58,100 m²) facility designed by Gensler, including 26 gates to accommodate 250 flights per day^[29] and 20 million passengers annually.^[30] Originally, there were also tentative plans to renovate another portion of the original facility, a salvaged portion of the departure lounges known as The Trumpet,^[31] dating from the Roche-Dinkeloo Flight Wing One addition in 1969. During the construction of the new, Gensler-designed terminal, The Trumpet was lifted and moved 1,500 ft (460 m)^[32] at a cost of $895,000,^[31] only to be later demolished when the project's budget prioritized renovating the head house.^[28]

T5 reopened on October 22, 2008,^[33] with JetBlue using an abstraction of the Saarinen terminal's gull-wing shape as the official logo for the event, an abstraction of the new terminal floor plan for the signage^[28][34] and counting down the reopening via Twitter.^[35] The new terminal features a 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m²) retail area with 22 food concessions and 35 specialty retail stores^[29] along with free wireless Internet access, a children's play area and a 1,500-space parking garage.^[35] As the first airline terminal at JFK designed after the September 11, 2001, attacks,^[4][36] the new T5 now contains 20 security lanes, one of the largest checkpoints in a US airline terminal. The entry hall of the Gensler terminal wraps around the Saarinen head house in a crescent shape^[28] and retains the original, iconic departure-arrival passenger tubes from the head house (Tube #1 from the 1962 Saarinen design and Tube #2 from the 1969 Roche-Dinkeloo-designed Flight Wing One).^[37] While noted architect Robert A. M. Stern had called the evocative Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center "Grand Central of the jet age",^[3] the pragmatic new encircling terminal has been called "hyper-efficient"^[4] and a "monument to human throughput".^[5]

At the time of the T5 opening, JetBlue and PANYNJ had yet to complete renovation of the original Saarinen head house, and the building has stood empty while they decided what its future role should be. Early proposals included a conference center, an aviation museum, and a restaurant,^[31] or a place to check in for flights departing from the newer JetBlue T5 building.^[38]

2016–2019: Conversion of head house into hotel

In April 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that JetBlue and its partner, a hotel developer, were negotiating for the rights to turn the head house into a hotel.^[39] In July 2015, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that the Saarinen building would be converted into the TWA Hotel, a new on-site hotel for the airport's passengers.^[40] Construction on the TWA Hotel began in December 2016.^[41] The structures on either side of the actual headhouse will be demolished (with the headhouse retained)^[42] while additional structures will be built.^[43] The hotel, scheduled to open in 2019, will have 505 guest rooms, 40,000 square feet of meeting space, and an observation deck of 10,000 square feet.^[44]

See also

• Thin-shell structure


• List of thin shell structures


• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens


• National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens County, New York

References

External links

External images

TWA Flight Center: c. 1962, Departure & Arrival Board

TWA Flight Center: c. 1962, Departure & Arrival Corridor

TWA Flight Center: c. 1962, Interior View

• 
  Media related to TWA Flight Center at Wikimedia Commons


• 
  Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NY-6371, "Trans World Airlines Flight Center, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica Bay, Queens (subdivision), Queens, NY", 32 measured drawings


• 1962 Saarinen head house with 2008 Gensler-designed Jetblue Terminal

Coordinates: 40°38′45″N 73°46′39″W / 40.645826°N 73.777539°W / 40.645826; -73.777539