TWA Flight Center Quiz: Saarinen's Winged Terminal at JFK

This TWA Flight Center quiz checks in at Eero Saarinen's swooping terminal at New York's JFK Airport. Play 10 interactive questions on its wing-like concrete roof, the 1962 opening after Saarinen's death, the red sunken lounge, tube-shaped walkways, the clattering departures board, closure in 2001, the TWA Hotel and a vintage plane turned cocktail bar.

Start TWA Flight Center Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Airport
At which airport is the TWA Flight Center?
Architect
Who designed it?
Open
When did the terminal open?
Roof
What does the concrete roof resemble?
Lounge
What color is the famous sunken lounge?
Tubes
How did passengers reach the gates?
Board
What kind of departures board clatters in the hall?
Close
When did the terminal close to flights?
Hotel
What did it become in 2019?
Plane
Which vintage plane became a cocktail bar there?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: At which airport is the TWA Flight Center?
Answer: JFK in New York
It sits beside newer terminals.
Q2: Who designed it?
Answer: Eero Saarinen
He was Finnish-American.
Q3: When did the terminal open?
Answer: 1962
Saarinen had died the year before.
Q4: What does the concrete roof resemble?
Answer: A bird's spreading wings
Thin shells curve upward.
Q5: What color is the famous sunken lounge?
Answer: Red
It faces big windows.
Q6: How did passengers reach the gates?
Answer: Through long tube-shaped walkways
Red carpet lines them.
Q7: What kind of departures board clatters in the hall?
Answer: A split-flap board
Letters flip with a sound.
Q8: When did the terminal close to flights?
Answer: 2001
TWA was taken over.
Q9: What did it become in 2019?
Answer: The TWA Hotel
Guests stay in new wings.
Q10: Which vintage plane became a cocktail bar there?
Answer: A Lockheed Constellation
Fans call it Connie.

Jet Age Wings in Concrete

The TWA Flight Center at New York's JFK Airport was designed by Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, a year after his death. Its thin concrete shell roof curves upward like a bird's spreading wings, capturing the excitement of the jet age.

Inside, a red sunken lounge faced big windows over the runways, and passengers walked to gates through long tube-shaped walkways lined with red carpet. A split-flap departures board clattered as flights changed.

After TWA was taken over, the terminal closed in 2001. It reopened in 2019 as the TWA Hotel, with new wings for rooms and the old hall restored. A vintage Lockheed Constellation plane, nicknamed Connie, was turned into a cocktail bar outside.

What This Quiz Teaches

Architecture fans will enjoy these questions.

Who designed it
What the roof looks like
What was inside
What happened later
What visitors find now

Did You Know?

Saarinen also designed the Gateway Arch.
The Tulip chair is his design.
A rooftop pool overlooks the runway.
Catch Me If You Can filmed scenes there.
Retro uniforms are displayed.