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If any word describes the old TWA terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport it is cool. Constructed in 1962, under the auspices of architect Eero Saarinen and Howard Hughes (the film maven and aviator), the TWA Flight Center evoked every element of 1960s style and the dawn of the jet age with its soaring ceilings and pedestrian tubes that let guests walk over the street to or from their gates. The terminal was designated a New York City Landmark in 1994, but closed just seven years later, unable to accommodate newer planes and the needs of modern air travel.
Now, it's getting dusted off. Next year, MCR and Morse Development will reopen the Flight Center as the TWA Hotel, and while the project is set to restore the building to its original aesthetic, the hotel will specifically avoid being cool.
"By definition, 'cool' is ephemeral, and it's fleeting," said Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR and Morse Development. "What's cool today is not cool tomorrow." Hotels adhering to a fad can find themselves abandoned-just like the Flight Center was for nearly 20 years. "We're trying to create a great product that has a timeless attraction to it," Morse said.
FROM TERMINAL TO HOTEL
The building's designation as a New York City Landmark and its place on the National Register of Historic Places proved to be both limiting and liberating....