The
fate of Eero Saarinen’s Jet Age icon, the TWA
Terminal (1962) at JFK Airport, continues to be uncertain.
The Port Authority closed the New York City landmark
in October, while the governmental decision making process
is pending in regard to a massive new addition. The
Saarinen building’s graceful concrete forms evoke
the decade of air
travel as democratic, glamorous adventure with the thrill
of the journey beginning at the terminal and its quintessentially
“hip” 1960’s interior. The building
now sits sadly empty and subject to deterioration, vandalism
or inappropriate and harmful temporary uses. This abandonment
was not what the building’s enthusiasts expected
after a flood of concerned letters from around the world
were sent to the Port Authority and to the New York
State Historic Preservation Office. These communications
called upon the authorities to keep the building as
a functioning terminal, until a suitable new use could
be worked out in tandem with an appropriate addition
worthy of the Saarinen masterpiece. The proposed addition
is a semi circular mega structure with a concrete plaza
surrounding the landmark. Preservationists would like
to see the Port Authority open an international design
competition for a TWA Terminal Master Plan, with the
paramount consideration an adaptive re-use of the landmark.
The most popular idea is for the Saarinen building to
become the symbol of JFK through use as a respite center
for travelers, as are found at international hubs worldwide,
with spaces for a New York region visitor’s center,
fine dining, relaxation and business conferences. —Caroline
Zaleski
Pictured above: Interior, Trans
World Airways Terminal, 1961.
AMERICAN BUILDING, THE HISTORICAL FORCES THAT SHAPED
IT,
JAMES MARSTON FITCH, HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, BO STON,
1966
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