See Inside Eero Saarien’s Abandoned Jet Age TWA Terminal

Eero Saarinen’s sloping, futuristic TWA terminal at JFK was built in 1962 in the height of the age of romantic air travel. The terminal, whose four vaulted concrete shell Saarinen’s chief associate architect claimed he modelled partly after a grapefruit, was meant to be a “building in which the architecture itself would express the drama and specialness and excitement of travel.” In 2001, the terminal was shuttered in the airline industry struggles following the 9/11 attacks, but this past year, the building was fully renovated (though The Port Authority has not decided what purpose it will ultimately serve), and the terminal was recently opened for a few hours, allowing these photographs to be taken. Click through to see photographs of Saarien’s magnificent building both old and new, and let us know if you’d like to be taking a flight out of there anytime soon. Photos courtesy Brian Kelly for Phaidon.