Come fly with me at TWA
The iconic TWA Flight Centre & Hotel are located at Terminal 5 JFK and are not to be missed if you are ever passing through. I had gazed admirably at the abandoned terminal every time I flew Jet Blue and was fascinated by the shape, style and history of the terminal. When I heard it was to be reconstructed I knew it would be something special and followed the 3 year progress eagerly as did designers, architects, aviation enthusiasts and New Yorkers alike.
The original terminal commissioned by TWA Owner Howard Hughes & designed by Eero Saarinen (Finnish-American architect behind the Gateway Arch in St Louis & Dulles Airport in DC) encompassed sweeping curves and copious amounts of glass as was his signature. It took 3 years to build and operated from 1962 to 2001, sadly Saarinen died in 1961 leaving his partners to complete the project. This was the beginning of the “Golden Age of Flying”
The original flight centre now serves as the lobby of The TWA Hotel and has been lovingly restored with care, attention & detail to museum quality. Both the interior and the exterior were declared New York City Landmarksin 1994, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The NY Times said ”The TWA Hotel now occupies Eero Saarinen’s stupendously restored 1962 TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, midcentury modernism’s great tribute to sex, adventure and the golden age of air travel. It is attracting the predictable mix of nostalgic baby boomers, design-conscious hipsters and stylish Europeans.”
I vaguely consider myself to be a “European on the outskirts of the nostalgic baby boomers” so was very happy to be invited to a 3-day event in The Constellation Ballroom where I had the opportunity to step back in time to photograph both the event & the beautiful space.
The TWA Hotel partnered with the New-York Historical Society to curate & share the history of Trans World Airlines and its remarkable terminal to give all visitors an experience in time travel in The Landmark Hall outside of The Constellation Ballroom. The memorabilia is amazing and I spent hours admiring all the photographs, reading every display note and envisaging The roaring 60’s singing along to the nostalgic soundtrack of Frank Sinatra, The Crystals, Dion, Roy Orbison, Mary Wells, The Ronettes, Buddy Holly and of course, The Beatles: so many amazing songs on rotation!
The newly-updated nostalgic yet futuristic design pays homage to its history incorporating every detail of 60’s design elements and was described by Condé Nast Traveler as “where Mad Men meets The Jetsons.”
The history of The TWA is captured in many areas all around the hotel, I particularly loved visiting the lobby displays with vintage uniform, furniture & luggage displays and the many twisting and turning seating areas and secret rooms on the mezzanine.
The cantilevered lobby floor is a dream elevated catwalk to both see and be seen so it came as no surprise that the Spring 2019 reopening of The TWA was celebrated by hosting the Louis Vuitton Stages 2020 Cruise Runway show during Fashion Week.
The heart of the lobby is the Sunken Lounge decked out in its fiery signature “chili-pepper red” which overlooks the outdoor roller skating rink and 1958 Lockheed Constellation "Connie" airplane turned cocktail lounge. By day or night it is breathtakingly retro and I was happy to set my alarm for very early morning to capture the space pre-dawn for that post-apocalyptic vibe after a particularly late night there. It was well worth waking up early for.
The 2 new hotel wings are connected to the main lobby & The Jet Blue Terminal via 2 inclined chutes which make for a dream photo location It definitely felt like I was travelling back in time when I entered the chutes daily from my gorgeous retro-fitted room which was surprisingly quiet considering one of the busiest runway was outside of my window!
I spent many hours wandering and exploring finding such treasures as Howard Hughes and Saarinen’s offices which are such detailed recreations that I expected them to walk in and start typing on the typewriter or drafting a blueprint any minute.
The outdoor tarmac with the Connie and Roller Rink were particularly striking against the clear blue sky early on the final morning and I even persuaded a stylish group of roller skaters to pose for me; this will surely be their next album cover!
There are so many incredible areas to visit onsite, I could not miss the opportunity to visit The Rooftop with the infinity pool, observation deck and restaurant overlooking the runway to get a close up view of the planes taking off, I visited at 7am and it was perfect.
This was truly an amazing experience and I left flying high with so many amazing photographs & memories. I was there for 3 days/2 nights and could have easily stayed longer to enjoy the surroundings and soundtrack more: it completely took me back to the Jet Age where travelling was chic and the music classic & elegant. ”Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away.”
The event I attended was a hairdressing show with trend-prediction presentations from top international stylists & teams attended by salon owners, business owners and stylists from across The USA. It was such a special occasion as it was the first in-person hair industry event in 2 years and the sheer joy of being able to connect again created so much love & appreciation that it filled the huge space daily. There were breakfasts, lunches, dinners, presentations, pre parties, parties, after parties and so much more!
To celebrate the event (and because I had so many great photographs) I created a commemorative coffee table book for the host, take a peek here.