Flight Center, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York (1959-62)

In addition to paintings what else was used to celebrate modern forms of travel?

Architecture and new media

How was abstract painting able to thematize flight and speed?

Through the use of fragmented perspectives

Who was commissioned to design a new terminal in Queens New York?

Eero Saarinen

What airport was Saarinen commissioned to work on?

Idlewild Airport in Queens New York

What was the design of most airport building in the United States at the time?

Low, shed like, and functional

What were airport buildings considered?

Utilitarian structures

What basic function did airport buildings serve?

Sheltering passengers from elements while they checked into and waited for flights

Why did the purely utilitarian view of airport buildings change?

Passengers started to view commercial air travel as luxurious and sophisticated

How did airlines market themselves to this new idea of sophistication?

As providing a full experience before travelers walked up the steps to board their plane

When did passengers begin viewing commercial air travel and luxurious?

In the 1950’s

What was the earliest and most noteworthy example of architecture of air terminals shifting?

The Trans World Airlines Flight Center at Idleild

What was the TWA Flight Center at Idlewild renamed to?

John F. Kennedy Airport

When was TWA Flight Center at Idlewild renamed to JFK Int.?

1963

What did Architect Eero Saarinen produce the first of?

The first star airline terminal

Later starchitects re-imagined what?

How function could be wedded to groundbreaking visual and aesthetic experiences

Where was Saarinen born?

The suburb of Helsinki Finland 1910

Where was Saarinens birthplace?

Hvittrask

What was Hvittrask?

An architectural complex

Which 3 major architects designed Hvittrask?

Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren, and Eliel Saarinen

Who was Eero Saarinens father?

Eliel Sarrinen

What did Gesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen envision Hvittrask as?

An art colony where they and their families would live and work together

What style was Hvittrask built in?

Romantic nationalist style

What did the nationalist romantic style feature?

Traditional building materials, and historical references to prehistoric Viking and medieval Scandinavian forms

What was Eliel Saarinens most important building?

The central train station in Helsinki

When was Saarinens central train station in Helsinki opened?

1919

What did Eliel Saarinens central train station in Helsinki combine?

Romantic nationalist elements with modern technology

When did Eero’s family immigrate to the United States?

When Eero was 13

Where did Eero and his family settle in the United States?

Michigan

What job did Eliel take in Michigan?

Director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art

What did Cranbrooks curriculum focus on?

Architecture and applied arts including furniture, industrial design, and textiles

What school did Eero take classes at in his teens?

Cranbrook

Where would Eero see most of his architectural educating taking place?

Paris and Yale University

When did Eero graduate?

1934

How long did Eero travel for before after graduating?

2 years

Where did Eero work upon coming back home after his 2 year travels?

HIs fathers architectural firm

When did Eero gain national recognition?

1948

How did Eero first gain national recognition?

His design for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was selected in a national competition

Where is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial located?

St. Louis, Missouri

What was infamous about Eeros design being selected for the competition?

He beat out his fathers deisgn

What would Eeros design for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial become?

The Gateway Arch

How tall was the Gateway Arch?

630 feet tall

What was the Gateway Arch covered in?

Panels of stainless steel

What elements would Saarinen use in the TWA terminal and the rest of his architectural practice?

Modern materials used in an innovative way, embrace of organic lines and shapes, the use of expressive form to communicate with audiences

What other noteworthy designs has Eero worked on?

Washington Dulles International Airport, the Kresge Auditorium, American Embasies, and domestic and office furniture

Where is the Kresge Auditorium located?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology

How many overseas American embassies did Eero work on?

2

When did Eero pass away?

1961

At what age did Eero pass away?

51

How many years after his death was the TWA terminal completed?

Just a year

From the street what does the TWA Flight Center look like?

A giant white bird crouching to take off, wings outstreched

What extends to either side of the building?

2 overhanding arches

What descends form the overhanging arches?

Glass curtain walls

What do the arches anchoring the structure to the ground resemble?

The legs in a bird of prey’s ready stance

What is the open space on the inside filled with?

Curving forms

What is an example of the curving forms found in the inside of the TWA Flight Center?

2 Staircases that swoop and intertwine

The 2 staircases that swoop and intertwine echo what?

The dramatic lines of the facade

What does the high ceiling follow?

The winglike curves from the outside

What objects inside of the flight center have curved edges?

The sofas, information desk, and huge bulbous flight status monitor

What is at the rear of the terminal?

Floor to ceiling windows

What do the floor to ceiling windows at the rear of the terminal allow?

Passengers to watch planes taking off and landing

What do the 2 ling hallways feature?

Symmetry

The 2 long symmetric hallways are carpeted with what color?

TWA red

How many degrees do the 2 symmetric hallways lead off the main space at?

45 degree angles

The 2 45 degree symmetrical hallwasy led passengers where?

To the 17 original departure gates

Today where do the 45 degree symmetrical hallways in TWA red lead passengers to?

One leads to the JFK terminal 5 and another to a small museum

What are the two hallways called today?

Flight tubes

What did architects describe what the terminal represents as?

“The excitement of travel”

Who was the TWA’s president at the time?

Ralph Damon

What did TWA president Ralph Damon request?

A building that starts your flight with your first glimpse of it

What did Ralph Damon want the building to communicate?

The spirit of flight inside and our

The TWA Flight Center is indebted to what?

Saarinen’s father Eliel and tenants of Finnish romantic architecture

Both father and son Eliel and Eero were dedicated to what philosophy?

Materials affect a buildings expressive character

For Eero what were the important starting points of the design?

The textures, colors and other inherent qualities of materials

Rather than designing first and sourcing materials later, what did both Saarinens believe?

Materials should guide the design

The materials Eliel chose to work with were what?

Local Finnish stone and timber

Why did Eliel choose to work with local Finnish stone and timber?

To express national pride and sense of place

The materials that Eero worked with were associated with what?

Machine age modernism

What is the effect of the stainless-steel cladding in the St. Louis arch?

It produced a sleek dynamic surface

What is the primary material in the TWA terminal?

Concrete over flexible metal mesh

What did the concrete over flexible metal mesh allow for the TWA terminal?

It allowed him to shape and sculpt the building into its exaggerated, winglike forms

In some places how thin is the shell roof?

7 inches thick

What is the lightweight shell roof made up of?

4 wedge shaped segments

Where the 4 sections meet what does Eero omit?

The solid weight bearing ribs in a traditional vaulted roof

What does Eero replace the solid weight bearing ribs for?

A glass skylight

What effect does the glass skylight have?

It enhances the buildings feeling of upward momentum and airiness

Where did Eero repeat the shell roof feature?

Dulles Airport

What does Saarinen use in the shell roof for its malleable properties?

Reinforced concrete

Why did Saarinen need something malleable for the shell roof?

To create the dynamic and symbolic forms the client requested

What did Saarinen believe about organic architectural forms?

They would be more welcoming, visually interesting, and psychologically nuturing to users

Which architect created ridgid steel and glass skyscrapers?

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

By the late 1950s what style had become stale and repetitive?

The International Modernist style

What were the aspects of the International Modernist style?

Uniform boxlike buildings with transparent curtain walls

What is program an architectural term for?

A buildings function

What are the swooping symmetrical forms of the TWA terminal expressive of?

Mankind’s soaring aspirations of flight

What message is conveyed in the architecture of the TWA terminal?

Beauty, thrill, and glamour of flight and luxury amenities marketed by Trans World Airlines in the jet age

When was TWA formed?

1930

What was the TWA’s most prominent client during its first decade?

The United States Postal Service

When did TWA acquire a new passenger route?

After the WW2

Who was the TWA under leadership of after WW2?

Howard Hughes

What two cities did the TWA obtain under Howard Hughes?

A passenger route from New York to Paris