Remember paper tickets?
And fancy dinners, served
by cheerful flight attendants?
TWA,
the airline which opened at the dawn of the Jet Age in 1962, and faded
into history just months after 9/11, will reopen to much fanfare in
2019. This airline, however, will not comprise a fleet of planes, but a
retro hotel fitted out with the most minute of authentic-looking
details.
Architectural Digest wrote "The TWA Hotel in Eero Saarinen's
JFK Airport Terminal Will Transport You Right Back to 1962", the
Associated Press swooned "Hotel at Iconic TWA Terminal Will Evoke Glamour of Jet Age" and the often lighthearted NY Daily News opined "JFK Becomes 'Real Destination with swanky Upgrade Project'."
The centerpiece of the terrazzo-tiled bathroom is a
custom Hollywood
vanity with bubble lights inspired by Philip Johnson.
Oh boy -- more little soaps and lotions for my collection!
What's with this hotel, that promises us teleportation, glamour and swank? The developers, according to a TWA spokesperson, are "reigniting the magic of Eero Saarinen’s landmarked 1962 TWA
Flight Center at JFK Airport, restoring and reimagining it as a
first-class hotel." Every detail has been tested for authenticity, utility and mid-mod esthetic, including art, glassware, towels, robes and slippers. (My favorite decorative detail is the rotary phones that will be placed in each room.)
The reception desk in the TWA Lounge is designed as a step back
into the 1960s, when the original terminal was opened. (Sadly,
Saarinen died a year before the building's completion).
An imaginary departures lounge
What Jet Age-inspired hotel room would be complete without its own
“Friendly Skies: The Art of High Altitude Travel”
Flight attendants' costumes from the 1940s through the 1960s will be exhibited
at the Peekaboo Gallery in Old Pasadena, CA August 18th, 2018 through September 23rd.
Original-era travel posters, signage and other artwork will surround
large-scale airport display models and other extraordinary artifacts. Also on
display will be an unrivaled quantity of stewardess and pilot gear from
PAN AM, Braniff, TWA, United, Eastern, British Airways, and
even the
Soviet Airline, AEROFLOT.
Beam me up, Vladimir!
The hotel features
- 512 ultra-quiet hotel rooms with exhilarating views of JFK’s runways and the iconic TWA Flight Center
- 50,000 square feet of meeting space that can hold 1,400 people
- 6 restaurants and 8 bars
- 10,000-square-foot rooftop observation deck with pool
- State of the art 10,000-square-foot fitness facility with yoga, spinning and other amenities
- Museum devoted to the Jet Age, TWA and the midcentury modern design movement
- And more ...
"At TWA, we tried to design a building in which the architecture itself
would express the drama and excitement of travel. In a way, this is
man’s desire to conquer gravity.” – Eero Saarinen
~ oOo~
This article was originally posted on Mad for Mod on Sept. 3, 2018. The hotel is now open.
To watch a video about the rehab of this iconic hotel, link here.
