TWA Flight Center by Eero Saarinen, 1963

New York International Airport is packed as the Beatles finally arrive and — wait a minute, that isn't for a couple of months. The date on these slides is Nov 63, the month JFK was assassinated in Dallas. It is still New York International or Idlewild Airport (as it was commonly known after the golf course it displaced).

(The slides in this set were slightly damaged as found)

Of course, in 1963, the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center would have been the main attraction. Open for under a year when these photos were taken, it was designed to impart a sense of flight and movement. This futuristic work is now a National Historic Landmark.

(Composite image made from two slides)

The jetsons-like interior is full of movement, and in spite of being made of concrete, the construction gives a sense of lightness and airiness. The building and all its spaces and elements, make up a total environment where every detail belongs to the same family of forms, consistently repeated in passenger counters, information boards, railings etc.
Note the Alexander Calder sculpture hanging in Terminal 5.
Jet Blue and the Port Authority has put $19 million into the renovation of Terminal 5 and it opened last October. It is still modern, but seems to have lost some of its mid-century identity. Jet blue's site is here. May I check your baggage?

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Marco Beach Hotel and Villas, Florida - 1965

...And what a life it probably was until the island was over-developed in the early 60s. The developers (Deltona Corp) bought the entire island and developed the whole thing. They eventually went broke fighting environmental laws, but not until the damage was done. This hotel (tropical and quaint by today's standards) was opened in 1965. Cost: $16 for a double occupancy room. A ginormous Marriott now sits on the site at 400 South Collier Boulevard.

One of the most important archaeological sites in North America was located on this once remote and wild island, then called Key Marco. Numerous items of carved and painted wood were discovered preserved in a mucky bayou on the north side. The famous "Marco Cat" came from here. Also under this motel was rumored to be a treasure ship! See this page for the whole story. Put on your kookiest hat and enjoy another part of weird Florida!

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Caneel Bay Plantation, 1956

Ahhhhh... Tropical atomic paradise in the Virgin Islands! In the early 50s, Laurance Rockefeller began buying tracts of land in St. John, starting with the old Caneel Bay plantation. He then developed a new type of small luxury resort that would have little impact on the environment. It opened in October 1956 (this is the original brochure) and was built of native wood and stone. I do admire the intimacy and minimal use of concrete.

Nice script font up above there...

How refreshing to look at pictures of the hotel today and see virtually the same paradise pictured in the original promotional material. They even use the same logo! This is where some of the Corona beer commercials have been filmed. The Caribbean mid-century landmarks seem to be less threatened than our friends in Hawaii.

The hotel rooms have been redecorated to look more Thomas Kincadian and British colonial than the Eames/Eichler modern pictured here, but overall it still looks like a great place to sit out a break from work!! I'd spend time on that open terrace at night with the stars, some steel drums, a tropical boat drink, myself...


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