Eero Saarinen’s 1962 terminal at John F. Kennedy, which was published on METALOCUS article with photographies by Connie Zho in November last year, now, on June 2015, while the staff of a team of digital scanning - the historical preservationist Lori Walters and her team at ChronoPoints- was at work recording every detail of Eero Saarinen terminal to make a digital 3D model, Curbed NY sent the photographer Max Touhey to document the process and to capture the closed-to-the-public building just ahead of its transformation into a boutique hotel.
It's a special place for architecture and midcentury design lovers—and photographers. Touhey said of his experience shooting:
Even when I'm really excited to shoot a space if it stands the hype the excitement still drops off at a certain point. But TWA is different. You can stand in 100 different places and still be in awe. The interplay of curves is really fascinating and changes dramatically depending on where you're looking. One of my favourite features is of two sharply angled forms on both sides of the "passion pit," two aerodynamic shapes in a sea of curves. I could almost hear a plane taking off! Now I'll have to see what my parents remember from their TWA days when I share the images.
In 2014, I wrote about my experience using the terminal during a trip to LA.-
One of the most famous icons of mid-century modernism, the TWA Flight Center, beautifully restored over the last six years, is on the National Register of Historic Places, in the USA.
One of the last times I had the opportunity to go through the TWA terminal was way to LA in 1998, had missed the flight after waiting in a long queue, and after arriving at the airport from Manhattan on a slow Subway, travelling across the city from my hotel in 109 St. and very early. The stewardess who waited on me was extremely friendly (now, Low-cost lines between his cuts have also reduced friendliness) and I could catch the next flight to Los Angeles. At other times, I returned to cross the terminal again, always looking sideways, thinking that this was a special place, but thinking it was timeless.
José Juan Barba
