Story highlights
The TWA terminal in New York's JFK airport is set to become a hotel
Its design is celebrated as a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture
CNN
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Despite the fact that it’s one of the busiest international air passenger gateways in the United States, plenty of travelers do what they can to avoid New York’s JFK International Airport.
The hub is, after all, often included on lists of America’s worst airports.
It was worth a visit last month, however, when the airport opened the doors to its classic TWA Flight Center terminal one last time before development.
The famed gull-winged building, which is set to become a hotel, welcomed visitors on October 18 as part of the Open House New York initiative that unlocks the doors of the city’s landmarks.
The terminal was designed by the celebrated Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962.
It’s still celebrated as an icon of the Jet Age.
On an artistic level, it’s seen as a masterpiece of 20th-century modernism, with sleek and flowing lines said to evoke the notion of flight.
On a practical level, it eventually turned out to be a dud.
The terminal struggled to handle larger airplanes and the higher volume of passengers brought on by rapid advances in air travel.
It’s been out of use since 2001, when the airline it was originally built for, TWA, went out of business.
Over the last six years the building has been painstakingly restored and included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Now, MCR Development (with offices in New York and Texas) plans to invest $265 million to turn it into JFK’s first on-site luxury hotel.
The hotel owner-operator firm says its plan, due to be completed in 2018, includes a museum focusing on New York City as the birthplace of the Jet Age of intercontinental travel.
It’ll also focus on the history of TWA, once among the premier carriers in the world, and the modernism design movement.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Opened in 1962, the former TWA Flight Center terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport is still considered an architectural marvel. Yet it wasn't designed to handle larger aircraft or higher volumes of passengers that came with the modern boom in air travel.
courtesy Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
From an aesthetic point of view, the former TWA terminal remains a beautiful and inspiring building.
courtesy matteo pericoli
"Skyline of the World" is a 121-meter-long mural by New York artist Matteo Pericoli that combines New York landmarks with iconic buildings from around the globe. It can be seen at the American Airlines terminal at New York's JFK Airport.
Courtesy AENA
Architect Richard Rogers brought beautiful changing colors to Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, especially in the main terminal's departures area (pictured).
Courtesy AENA
Light comes through large skylights into the circulation systems at Madrid-Barajas Airport's check-in and departures area.
Courtesy Nigel Young/Foster + Partners
London-based Foster + Partners won the competition to design the Beijing airport's international terminal, completed in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Courtesy Ma Wenxiao
It's now the second busiest airport in the world, with more than 86 million passengers passing through in 2014.
Courtesy Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Architect Renzo Piano won a competition in 1988 to design an airport on a man-made Japanese island near Osaka that didn't yet exist. (It does now.)
Gilbert Dennis/ViewPictures
Kansai International Airport was completed in 1994.
Courtesy Jay Langlois/Owens-Corning Fiberglass
American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill married the nomadic tradition of desert tents with enormous modern architecture at King Abdulaziz International Airport's Hajj Terminal in Jeddah.
Courtesy Jay Langlois/Owens-Corning Fiberglass
The roof design of King Abdulaziz airport's Hajj Terminal is reminiscent of the traditional desert tents once used to shelter pilgrims as they made their holy journeys across the desert.
Brady Lambert/Courtesy Fentress Architects
American firm Fentress Architects' design of Raleigh-Durham International Airport's Terminal 2 welcomes travelers coming to North Carolina.
Paul Dingman/Courtesy Fentress Architects
The design of Terminal 2 makes use of wooden trusses, glass and natural light. The rolling roofs are inspired by North Carolina's Piedmont hills.
Daniela Mac Adden/Courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Architect Rafael Vinoly is responsible for the swooping design of Aeropuerto de Carrasco in Montevideo, Uruguay, which opened in 2009. It has the capacity to handle three million passengers a year.
Daniela Mac Adden/Courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
The building covers more than 45,000 square meters. Generous use of glass and the sweeping curves of the roof create feelings of airiness and space.