Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1110880
ART + DECORATION ART + DECORATION FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS THE NEW TWA HOTEL AT JFK IS ONE STYLISH, SWINGING RIDE. BY REBECCA SHERMAN D esigned by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen in 1962, the iconic TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport has been redeveloped into a 512- room hotel with six restaurants, eight bars, shops, and a 10,000 square-foot gym and rooftop pool. The swinging new TWA Hotel, which began pre-booking rooms in February, opens Wednesday, May 15. Saarinen originally envisioned the futuristic structure's winged roof and fluid, open design to evoke the sensation of flight. The Jet Age terminal became a designated New York City Landmark in 1994 and closed down in 2001 after it could no longer accommodate modern aircraft. MCR, one of the country's largest hotel owners, began redeveloping it in 2016 in partnership with JetBlue and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Highlights include an iteration of Jean- Georges Vongerichten's famous Paris Café, which overlooks the main hub via sweeping observation windows. The Sunken Lounge, which has undergone a faithful restoration to the original 1962 Eero Saarinen design, will be operated by Rande are 4.5 inches thick — the second-thickest windows in the world, next to the U.S. Embassy in London — and allow guests to watch planes take flight from their rooms without hearing a sound. The hotel also has a rooftop observation deck, large event center, and a TWA museum with vintage uniforms and other memorabilia. Rooms start at $249, with short-stay rates available for day travelers. twahotel.com. The iconic 1962 Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center, now the TWA Hotel TWA Terminal and Sunken Lounge, circa 1962. Gerber, husband of Cindy Crawford, and his Gerber Group. Many authentic details have been preserved, including the Chili Pepper Red carpeting. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide views of the hotel's 1958 Lockheed Constellation Connie airplane, parked on the tarmac outside. The plane was originally commissioned in 1938 by TWA's eccentric owner, Howard Hughes. The hotel's guest rooms are accessible to JFK Terminal 5 through Saarinen's iconic flight tubes, made famous by the 2002 film Catch Me if You Can. Designed by NYC firm Stonehill Taylor, rooms pay homage to the 1960s with Saarinen- designed Knoll furnishings, martini bars, vintage rotary phones updated with digital technology, and terrazzo-tiled bathrooms. Noise-cancelling floor-to-ceiling windows Guests can watch planes take off and land from rooms. A faithful restoration of the swooping Sunken Lounge