August 10, 2004

Image Courtesy Gensler

After years of negotiation, Jet Blue Airlines has developed a scheme with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a new terminal at JFK Airport in New York City.

The sleek 625,000 square-foot structure, designed by Gensler, will include 26 gates, and is expected to accommodate about 20 million passengerts a year. It will sit next to Eero Saarinen’s famous TWA terminal, whose future program, Gensler officials say, is still undetermined (although a renovation is scheduled shortly).

The two terminals will be connected via pedestrian tubes. The new terminal will feature a trim, contemporary profile of taut metal and glass that is meant to keep a low profile next to the Saarinen building, which is regarded as a classic of modern architecture. Built between 1956 and 1962, TWA features soaring, radically curved concrete wings that help make the building reminiscent of a bird in flight. The Port Authority had originally planned for TWA to fall out of use before vociferous protests from groups like the Municipal Arts Society helped lead it toward a different destiny. Construction on the new terminal is set to begin this fall, and opening is scheduled for 2008.

Sam Lubell

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