Work in Progress, the new life of the TWA Terminal

The old TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport was added to openhousenewyork (OHNY) Weekend's architectural program in the last minute but the house was full on Sunday, October 16th. For the first time in ten years public was allowed inside the terminal designed by Eero Saarinen. OHNY estimates that about 1,000 people visited the terminal on Sunday, with most visitors toting cameras. During the event, many former TWA flight crew members also showed up, some of them in uniform.

Despite being a modern classic, the TWA Flight Center still today has a futuristic air. The curvilinear terminal is sculpted as a symbol of flight, and its form suggests of a landing eagle. It originally opened on May 28, 1962, seven years after Saarinen had been given the commission, and about a year after his untimely death at the age of 51. To accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 it received a new departure-arrival concourse and lounge known as Flight Wing One designed in 1969 by Eero Saarinen and Associates' successor firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major United States domestic airline until deregulation in the late 1970s. In 2001 it was bought out and merged with American Airlines. The use of the terminal was also discontinued in 2001.

The TWA Terminal is nowadays listed on the National Register of Historic Places and at the moment undergoing renovation. The renovation and expansion project started in 2005. During the process portions of the original complex have been demolished, and the Saarinen building is now partially encircled by and serving as a kind of a ceremonial entrance to the new adjacent terminal completed in 2008. Together, the old and new buildings comprise JetBlue Airways' JFK operations and are collectively known as Terminal 5.

The good news for everyone who missed the OHNY event is that the wait for the next opportunity to see the terminal from inside might not be too long. The restoration of the terminal's first level is nearly complete, and the building is planned to open to the public already next year.