Trans World Flight Center, (New York, New York), 1962, Neo-Futurism

Eero Saarinen’s Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight Center was designed to visualize the “Spirit of Flight”. The need for more infrastructure to handle the rapidly expanding industry of commercial air travel was high after World War II. The reduction of prices and payment plans turned a usually high-class recreation into something within reach to the middle class. In response to the increase in aviary traffic decided to expand the Idlewild Airport (Present day JFK). The design which was deemed “Terminal City”, consisted of each airline constructing their own respective terminal. This was not decided through a design competition as many major urban planning projects are, however the airlines decided to go forward with this plan as it enabled them to create lasting brand names with permanent structures in their respective images. Saarinen collected an overwhelming amount of data on airplanes and it’s passengers. Timing how long it took for planes to take off and land, passengers commutes from the sidewalk to the gate, checking baggage. Similarly Grand Central Station was used to study traveler behavior as it had the highest flow of passengers than any other station across the nation at that time. Through these observations Saarinen and his team found that travelers did not move in rectilinear paths. Contrarily when presented with an obstacle people pursue curved paths, unconsciously similar to the laws of aerodynamics. This directly lead to Saarinen's rounded pseudo-triangular form of the TWA Terminal.

The site for Saarinen’s Project was located at the pinnacle of the Airport’s main road. The airline also wanted the design to provide them with advertising, publicity, and attention. The exterior of the building conceptually represents the form of a bird in mid-flight with two “wings”. Four concrete curved shells form the roof, they meet at a centerpoint which is where the clock is hung from. The massive suspended concrete structure is reinforced with steel webbing. Each shell is supported on one “pier’, a cutout at each of these connection points creates the illusion that the structure is “flying”. The only break between the heavy shells are narrow skylights. The large expanses of glass which seem to effortlessly hang from the shell structure are supported by steel and are tinted a contemporary shade of purple. Saarinen uses spaces and forms which flow into each other to further build upon the concept. The interior elements of the design is made up of ribbons which are derived from its exterior. Ceilings flow into walls and the walls inevitably become floors. The roof was self-supporting and as a result the interior space was unobstructed. Curved staircases, walkways, walls, and corridors make the space feel as if all the elements are from one formal world.

Saarinen died a year before the project was finished (1962) and only saw the superstructure of the building completed. Even though the terminal established itself as a symbol of the aviary age it was ironically inefficient to service the jets. In 1958 most of the design had been established, as well as the replacement of propeller driven aircraft with those of jet engine propulsion. The terminal was never able to catch up to the rapidly advancing industry and its doors shut in 2001. In 2005 it was declared a historic landmark, and with new plans to convert the terminal into the largest hotel lobby in the world Saarinen’s design may just survive the test of time as an icon of an era gone-by.

Bibliography:

https://www.archdaily.com/788012/ad-classics-twa-flight-center-eero-saarinen

https://www.archdaily.com/66828/ad-classics-twa-terminal-eero-saarinen
Román, Antonio. Eero Saarinen : An Architecture of Multiplicity. New York : Princeton Architectural Press
c 2003. (p 43-67)