Ultra Swank - Playful lifestyle, music and design adventures

Beatniks and Hipsters '71

2008-05-16T14:12:00.008+02:00

You've waited and wondered with starry eyes, will there be another Ultra Swank compilation? Of course and here it's the first one for 2008. As the title suggests we are moving away from lush cocktail parties, stewardesses and martinis for a while to go down one flight of stairs into the world of swingers, beatniks, hipsters and cool cats. Welcome to the Electric Psychedelic Swingers Pussycat Club downtown London, were we play psychedelic rock and pop from the late '60s and early '70s until the break of dawn.

Trying something different this time, but I hope that you will enjoy it and have as much fun as I did. I wanted it to sound like the songs were recorded live at the club so I have processed them to make them sound heavier and a bit dirty. They are mixed as one long 70 minute set but I have included a alternative download with the tracks separated for those who prefer that instead. This time I have also tried to list the year the song was published in the ID3 data for those who are interested. You can find the links under the track listing below. As always, play it loud, enjoy and give feedback if you like it. Yeah baby!

01. Intro - Entering the Club
02. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense And Peppermints
03. The Fleur De Lys - Circles
04. Pearls Before Swine - These Things Too
05. Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother
06. The Carrie Nations - Find It
07. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Hummin' Happy
08. Tinkerbell's Fairydust - Twenty Ten
09. Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends - Don't Take Your Time
10. Jack Arel and Jean Claude Petit - Strange Galaxy
11. Tommy James - Draggin' The Line
12. The Attack - Neville Thumbcatch
13. Alan Hawkshaw - Beat Boutique
14. Pink Floyd - Julia Dream
15. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Birds In My Tree
16. The Attack - We Can Take It
17. The Open Mind - Cast A Spell
18. Michel Legrand - 14 Juillet 70
19. The Who - My Generation
20. Groep 1850 - Little Fly
21. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
22. King Crimson - In The Wake of Poseidon
23. The Bunch - Looking Glass Alice
24. London Underground - Mind the Doors
25. Soft Machine - Dada was Here

Download (songs separated)
Via Mega Upload

Download (one long track)
Via WW Download

ICA in Gothenburg

2008-05-13T01:13:00.001+02:00

Found these great vintage photos taken at two different ICA stores in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most likely taken for publicity reasons for use in catalogs or magazines. ICA is one the largest retail chains in Sweden, started back in 1938 today boasting over 1600 stores nationwide. Can't help thinking how Americanized the ICA Bergköp store looks like.

ICA Bergköp store, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1960s

ICA Bergköp store, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1960s

ICA Tynnered Center, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1970s

Shopping Spree - Part 8

2008-05-12T22:31:00.000+02:00

More retro photos of Domus stores in Sweden. Why? Because it's good for you. Someone please bring back Domus, we miss you. Oh and clean up on aisle three.

Related posts
Shopping Spree - Part 1
Shopping Spree - Part 2
Shopping Spree - Part 3
Shopping Spree - Part 4
Shopping Spree - Part 5
Shopping Spree - Part 6
Shopping Spree - Part 7

Domus store, Nyköping, Sweden, 1976

Domus store, Söderhamn, Sweden, 1963

Domus store, Vimmerby, Sweden, early 1970s

Arne Jacobsen for your office

2008-05-02T20:48:00.006+02:00

Spring is officially here in Scandinavia, a good time to enjoy something new (or old). Warm colors, international design and clean lines are all trademarks of Danish designer and architect Arne Jacobsen. If you are in the process or remodeling or thinking about it here are some personal favorites of mine available to buy from Hivemodern.com. Enjoy!

Related posts
Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen Egg chair (1958) from hivemodern.com

Arne Jacobsen Series 3300 sofa (1958) from hivemodern.com

Arne Jacobsen Oxford chair (1963) from hivemodern.com

Does your airline offer this?

2008-04-24T18:11:00.002+02:00

More airline retro goodness from a TWA commercial made in the early 1970s. Looks cheesy but still delicious in some odd way.

Attention all customers

2008-04-18T16:48:00.007+02:00

I am not only interested in vintage design, architecture, lounge music and umm... stewardesses but also graphic design and typography seeing it has been my major subject in college and what what I work with for a living in a way. One thing that caught my attention lately are those old handwritten posters and placates that were found in major stores and outlets. Handwritten of course, they were in their own way a work of art. Done correctly they would both look elegant and selling. Of course, the effect would be the opposite if they were done the wrong way. Here are a couple of nice examples taken from a book about how to learn the quick lettering technique used for signs and billboards. Now grab your pens and start practicing.

Swank just got swankier

2008-04-05T21:35:00.016+02:00

As you might have noticed, some things has changed here at Ultra Swank. Felt that a design update was long overdue, seeing that the blog has looked the same for over two years. So said and done here is the new, improved, better, bigger and even more swizzle cool version of Ultra Swank! Since it is still being tweaked on, there might be some bugs here and there. But do not worry - they will all be taken care of in time. If you notice anything really strange, feel free to let me know by using the new contact form available on the top right side.

Other changes are the additions of a few banners from Google. My intention with this blog has and never will be to make money from it. But seeing that a lot of people do visit it nowadays, I thought I would see if I could break even with some of the expenses I have. Still experimenting with the ads, so expect to see some minor changes here and there over the next weeks.

I also set up a PayPal account which you can donate money to if you feel like giving something back to me, that is if you like the subjects I write about or the music compilations I share. My plan is to save any donations I might receive to partly fund some traveling later this year. Have been given a few invitations to visit some of the readers of this blog, who knows - maybe I will get a chance to meet some of you in person? :)

Fly Eastern

2008-03-26T21:45:00.008+01:00

Here in Sweden we just skipped spring, summer and autumn and went directly back to winter again, so why not take a trip to the sun with Eastern Airlines? Here are six one-minute vintage commercials with none other than Brazilian bossa legend Astrud Gilberto on vocals. The jingles were recorded in the late 1960s and styled in different variations. Taken from a promotion 7" record intended for their employees only, but now offered to the Ultra Swank readers as well.

"The soaring spirit of the New Eastern...the lyrical beauty of an aircraft in flight...the exalted triumph of man's conquest of the skies - all these have been joyously captured in the melodies on this record. Created especially to serve as background music for Eastern television and radio commercials, these exhilarating musical passages stand on their own as a memorable tonal tribute to the new freedom mankind has achieved through modern aviation."

1. "Fly Eastern" Theme
2. "Number One to the Sun"
3. "After Business Hours"
4. "Sunrise at San Juan"
5. "Miami Cocktail Lounge"
6. "Song for Sun-Worshippers"

Download
Via Megaupload

Fly the friendly skies

2008-03-19T21:48:00.010+01:00

Remember what is was like before Southwest Airlines? Well, I don't. But it looks all good to me. Here are two early 1970s ads from the Dallas based airline Southwest and Miami based National Airlines. Both rather sexist, created to attract the attention of male passengers using tightly fitted outfits on the stewardesses along with broadcast and print campaigns suggesting that you could "fly" a stewardess to your destination of choice. Good times indeed.

Milkbar

2008-03-14T16:21:00.011+01:00

Swedish filmmakers Terese Mörnvik and Ewa Einhorn team up with Fredrik Gertten from WG Film in Malmö to bring you a documentary about a place where time has stood still for the past decades. Born from a concept of the communist past, Poland once had over 25 000 Milkbar's to serve cheap traditional food for families, old and homeless people. Once run and owned by the Polish government, now privately operated only 140 bars remain. Danuta Dzius is the owner of Bar Bywalec . This is a story how she tries to keep the bygone times alive, with the liberal market knocking on her front door. "Why can't there be Milkbar's all over the world?" she says, and how right she is.

Related links
Buy Milkbar on DVD

Shopping Spree - Part 7

2008-02-19T22:33:00.006+01:00

We haven't visited the golden age of shopping for a while, so why not take a waltz down the aisles once again. This time we are focusing on the Swedish department store chain Domus (house in latin). It was owned by the Consumer Corporation (KF) who in their glory days had over 200 stores throughout the country. Sadly, business was slowly beginning to come to a halt in the 1980s and many of the bigger stores were redeveloped to mini malls or sold. Personally I think that the Domus stores still are the coolest stores ever to exist and Sweden and I miss them in a silly - but kitschy way.

For those who are interested in learning more about Domus, there is a great documentary by Swedish filmmaker Anders Wahlgren available.

Related posts
Shopping Spree - Part 1
Shopping Spree - Part 2
Shopping Spree - Part 3
Shopping Spree - Part 4
Shopping Spree - Part 5
Shopping Spree - Part 6

Domus store, unknown location, Sweden, early 1960s

Domus store, Örebro, Sweden, late 1960s

Domus store, Halmstad, Sweden, early 1980s

Domus store, Kiruna, Sweden, early 1970s

Back to the present

2008-02-19T22:26:00.004+01:00

Alright so it has been a while - been busy with work and what not. Sadly, life is not only about glamorous parties, international flights, premieres and posh penthouse apartments. Fortunately the past is always the present here at Ultra Swank and you are always more than welcome to stay for the night and enjoy the company of our lovely flight attendants. Speaking of stewardesses, I had a great time in London last month with my lady friend. It was a trip with many laughs and new experiences. Hope to return there soon again to meet up with some friends. London really is calling.

Touchdown in London

2008-01-07T15:15:00.002+01:00

Remember what it was like? When jet travel was luxurious and exciting. When you dressed up in your best suit or dress before boarding the plane. When working as a stewardess was almost the same as being a astronaut. For you who doesn't, let's go back in time to 1970. When the first trans Atlantic flight to London was made with the Boeing 747 by the great Pan AM airline.

Ultra Swank will also be heading off to London with a lady friend for a couple of days on Thursday. We will sadly not be traveling in a 747, but as a globe trotter and man about town, I always keep up the style anywhere I go - and so should you.

Looking back

2008-01-06T14:36:00.001+01:00

Happy new year! First post of 2008, let's make it a rather good one. Hope that you have truly enjoyed reading my posts about lifestyle and design adventures from another time. Not forgetting my custom compilations especially made for and released through this blog. I have received such good response and praises for all of them and that is what keeps me going. Just knowing that I can make someone happy by sharing what I like best. I know that a lot of you are anxious for me to release more compilations and rest assure, I still got some tricks up my sleeve. I am working on two new compilations, that will be digging deeper into areas not fully explored here yet. Something different, something swizzle cool. Something for everyone in the family.

If you got photos or any other material of things from the past that you will think fit the direction this blog is going in, please feel free to get in touch with me. I will mostly likely create a accessible form soon so that you can contact me easily, without me having to deal with all the spam I would get otherwise. More on that in a later post. On with the statistics. Ultra Swank has become a lot more swank through the year. Ultra Swank has grown from around 67 000 visitors in 2006 to 250 000 in 2007 - amazing!

Thank you all for your continued support and amazing comments!

More Mad Men

2007-12-17T22:09:00.002+01:00

Since my previous post about the TV show Mad Men from AMC back in November I have now watched the entire first season (13 episodes) and thought I would share some thoughts about the show. Mad Men is a drama about a prestigious ad agency in the beginning of the 1960s at midtown Manhattan New York, revolving around the life of creative director Donald Draper.

Working with advertising in the 50s and 60s was one of the most glamorous jobs you could have along airline pilot and stewardess. And if you were working in Manhattan, you were pretty much the king of the mountain. Big agencies like BBDO and Leo Burnett ruled the creative output of American copywriters, artists and directors. Creator of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner tries to capture the essence of all the glamor and does it to a certain degree quite well with the decorative set pieces, lush environments, cute references to that period and music straight out of a Doris Day movie, but is that all there is?

At first I was very impressed by the first episodes, the writing was good, the characters were intriguing, even though a bit cliché at times. In the center, the life of creative director Donald Draper, mysterious, dark and well dressed. So far so good. But there is always a weakness, the different writers of the episodes tries to explore alot of areas, too many doors are opened and we can glimpse what is beyond, but that's it. It gets confusing after a while. I for one would have loved if they would have kept the doors to a minimum and dug deeper into the lives of some of the main characters instead of throwing everything at us at once.

Maybe fearing that they would only be allowed to to one season they creamed as much as possible into a time constricted space. Leaving us with a well designed nicely packaged mess to sort out for our selves. Even though I highly suspect that there will be a season 2 of the series, there is honestly not much there that indulges me. The only reason I can think of at the moment for hanging in there a while longer would be me being the sucker for retro design, advertising, architecture and what not. One can only hope that series 2 will clear up a lot of the what happened in the first season, slow it down a notch and focus on the important issues.

Update
Mad Men won two Golden Globes for best performance by an actor in a television series - Drama Jon Hamm (Donal Draper) and for the best Drama television series. If you live in Sweden you can catch the show, weekly on Kanal 9.

Related links
Official website

Notice: spoilers can be found in the comments section.

Malmo in 1962

2007-11-25T01:05:00.001+01:00

Here is a short montage of footage shot in Malmö, south Sweden in the summer of 1962. You can really feel the warm sunny weather and happy-go-lucky people going about their business or just enjoying the nice weather. Everything seems more colorful, happy and better back then. I wish Malmö still looked like this, but I guess it's a thing of the past.

The footage was taken from Mitt Hjärtas Malmö - Volume 5 available to buy on DVD here.

Related posts
Malmö in the 1960s
The Crown Prince of Malmö

Repost - Retro Christmas

2007-11-09T16:16:00.001+01:00

Per request, here it is again, my retro (sorry... vintage) themed holiday themed compilation! Hope you all are happy now, enjoy!

"The compilation features 25 songs, one for each day until Christmas day. The theme is as the title of the compilation suggests, mostly 50s, 60s and 70s Christmas songs. You will most likely recognize the titles, but probably not have heard them played like this (well, not all of the songs anyway). Happy holidays from Ultra Swank!"

01. Jack Jones - Sleigh Ride
02. Esquivel - Frosty The Snowman
03. The Hollyridge Strings - Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
04. John Barry - Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown
05. Dean Martin - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
06. Henry Mancini - Winter Wonderland - Silver Bells
07. Eddie Dunstedter - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
08. John Klein - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
09. Esquivel - Sun Valley Ski Run
10. The Hollyridge Strings - Santa Claus is coming to Town
11. Henry Mancini - White Christma
12. Burt Bacharach - The Bell That Couldn't Jingle
13. Esquivel - Here Comes Santa Claus
14. The Hollyridge Strings - Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
15. Henry Mancini - Frosty The Snow Man
16. Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani - Holiday On Skis
17. Ferrante & Teicher and Les Baxter - Sleigh Ride
18. Esquivel - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
19. Dean Martin - White Christmas
20. The Metro Strings - Christmas
21. Henry Mancini - The Christmas Song
22. John Klein - Winter Wonderland
23. Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians - Ring Those Christmas Bells
24. Julie London - I'd Like You For Christmas
25. Stan Kenton - What Is A Santa Claus

Download
Via Megaupload
Via WW Download

Related links
Review of Retro Christmas at Christmas Yuleblog

Mad Men

2007-11-06T15:20:00.000+01:00

Mad Men is a drama series from AMC about a swank ad agency in Manhattan, New York. It takes place in the early 1960s, when working with advertising was probably the most glamorous work you could have at that period as portrayed in many movies from that decade. For instance Lover Come Back starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

I watched the first episode from season 1 yesterday and I must say that it got me hooked (thank you for the tip janepeepshow). Not only because I my self have a background working with advertising but also because of the very accurately designed sets and period music. There will probably be a season 2 of the series but I am not sure when it will be aired. You can catch season 1 right now on AMC if you live in North America.

Related links
Official website

Shaft! (Shut your mouth)

2007-10-14T15:09:00.002+02:00

"Who's that black private dick who is like a sex machine to all the chicks?" John Shaft of course. The movie Shaft from 1971 is one of the most famous blaxploitation films of all time, not only because of its ultra cool black superhero but also for the award winning score by Isaac Hayes. The main theme for the movie is a guitar driven funk piece with Isaac's hot buttered soul voice driving it forward. There are countless covers and variations of the theme and today I give you fifteen of the best ones. The styles range from psychedelic organs to disco to reggae, there's something for everyone in the family. This compilation is not up to the usual standards and style that visitors of this blog might be used to, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. Feedback and comments are as always greatly appreciated, can you dig it?

01. Ray Conniff - Theme From Shaft
02. Hollyridge Strings - Theme From Shaft
03. Decimo - Theme From Shaft
04. Alan Hawkshaw & His Orchestra - Theme From Shaft
05. Joe Bataan - Theme From Shaft
06. Prophets Of Soul - Theme From Shaft
07. Sammy Davis Jr - John Shaft
08. Eddy And The Soul Band - Theme From Shaft
09. Birds N Brass - Theme From Shaft
10. The Chosen Few - Shaft
11. Bernard Purdie - Theme From Shaft
12. Isaac Hayes - Shaft II
13. Jimmy Mcgriff - The Theme From Shaft
14. Maynard Ferguson - Theme From Shaft
15. The Ventures - Theme From Shaft

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Arne Jacobsen

2007-09-08T14:34:00.000+02:00

This is the third post in my series about my favorite architects from the golden days of architecture. We are going back to Scandinavian design again, allow me to introduce Arne Jacobsen, one of the forefathers of Danish Modernism and Functionalism.

Born in Copenhagen 1902, educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen and professor at the Academy between the years 1956-65. Jacobsen was both an architect and designer, his most famous works include The Ant chair, Model 3107 chair, The Egg chair, St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen and Bellavista in Klampenborg. Personally, I have always admired the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, not only because it was Denmark's first skyscraper but for its clean design and the use of material. The hotel is located right next to the Tivoli (amusement park) and the Central Train station, which makes it a ideal place to stay if you are ever in Copenhagen.

When the hotel was built in 1960 it had a separate check-in and waiting area for people traveling with SAS from the Copenhagen International Airport. Buses would wait outside to transport the passengers to the airport itself. The terminal was located at the ground floor of the hotel, next to the lobby and was built to resemble the look of a airport. It was probably a very convenient service for the jet setters of the 1960s, but it was eventually discontinued. The hotel has obviously changed a lot over the years, but they have kept one room (606) in its original design, which also happens to be available to stay in if you want to experience a blast from the past.

PS. Happy birthday Ultra Swank, two years old September 1.

Related links
Official site
SAS Royal Hotel room design

Related posts
Eero Saarinen
Mies van der Rohe
The Crown Prince of Malmö

The Egg Chair, Arne Jacobsen, 1958

SAS Royal Hotel, exterior, Copenhagen, 1960s

SAS Royal Hotel, lobby, Copenhagen, 1960s

SAS Royal Hotel, restaurant, Copenhagen, 1960s

SAS Royal Hotel, SAS terminal, Copenhagen, 1960s

Midnight Martinis

2007-08-12T12:54:00.002+02:00

It is still summer, and still warm so why not cool off with some refreshing Martinis with your loved one? This compilation is the perfect mood setter for anyone enjoying a Martini late at night, gazing out on the quiet streets from your penthouse apartment while a soft breeze blows through the open window. The theme of it is soft dreamy strings, echoing trumpets, haunting choirs and kisses in the dark. Been working on this compilation for quite a while, but couldn't find the right mood for it so it took a while longer than expected to get it done, hope it's been worth the wait. Comments are as always more than welcome. All that is left now is to download it, fix your self a Martini and dream away...

01. Russ Garcia - Sophisticated Lady
02. Frank Sinatra - Put Your Dreams Away
03. Jackie Gleason - But Not for Me
04. Dudley Moore - Waltz For Suzie
05. Helen Merrill - Smog
06. Russ Garcia - Painting the Town Blue
07. Julie London - Around Midnight
08. Hugo Winterhalter - People
09. The John LaSalle Quartet - Night We Called A Day
10. Nelson Riddle - Sea of Dreams
11. Kenyon Hopkins - Lonely Girl
12. Henry Mancini - Call Me Irresponsible
13. Dinah Washington - Drinking Again
14. The Steve Graham Strings - Chances Are
15. Jackie Gleason - I'm in the Mood for Love
16. Russ Garcia - Blue, Blue, Blue
17. Les Baxter - Nevertheless
18. Frank DeVol - Dreamy
19. Ray Coniff - Park Avenue Beat
20. Ennio Morricone - Sexydonna
21. George Shearing - Darn That Dream
22. Al Caiola - I Got it Bad
23. Jackie Gleason - Tenderly
24. Julie London - In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

Download via File Send
Download via WW Download

1964 New York World's Fair

2007-07-23T15:56:00.000+02:00

I have two favorite World's Fair expositions. The first one being the 1962 held in Seattle, also known as 'Century 21', the second one is the fair that was held in Queens, New York in 1964. It was the largest World's Fair ever hosted, and the theme for it was "Peace Through Understanding". This was represented through a huge model of the Earth called the 'Unisphere' which still stands there today. Like the fair in Seattle in 1962, this fair was mostly remembered for its mid century American corporate culture, bright plans for the future and 'Space Age' design. It was also the place where Walt Disney created and tested his system for 'audio-animatronics' which was used for several rides on the fair, i.e. Ford's 'Magic Skyway' and General Electric's 'Carousel of progress'.

More than 50 million people from all over the world visited the fair, but the fair had proven to be too costly and was not able to repay its financial backers. The fair closed permanently in 1970, however some of the buildings and pavilions survived. The most famous one is the 'Unisphere' which has become a symbol for Queens.

Related links
Wikipedia
Archive.org (movie)

The Unisphere, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964

Panorama showing one corner, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964

The Ford Pavilion designed by Disney, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964

Monorail, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964. From nycsubway.org

Retro Shopping Volume 2 - Shopping Spree

2007-06-17T16:16:00.001+02:00

It is summer and hot again. Why not return to the nice temperature controlled environment inside the malls one more time? Browse all the exotic goods from all over the world, walking up and down the isles in a dreamy waltz while the soft music echoes through the muzak system and then grab a bite to eat at one of the convenient placed coffee shops. This compilation is the continuation of my 'Retro Shopping' series. The first one was released in July last year and became very popular among the Ultra Swank visitors. The second one features the same kind of happy, cheerful, instrumental easy going music that was played in malls during the 50s and 60s. As a bonus I have included a special montage with shopping related jingles and commercials, just to help you get in the mood. Grab it while supplies last! Feedback is as always appreciated.

(Thank you Keith from Malls of America for use of the postcards)

01. K. Palmer - Shopping Spree
02. Laurie Johnson - Happy-Go-Lucky
03. The Metro Strings - Party Time
04. Walter Stott - Rotten Row
05. J. Beaver - Workaday World
06. Anthony Mawer - Countrywide
07. Billy May - Brassmen's Holiday
08. John Seeley & William Loose - Light Movement #1
09. Roger Roger - En Carriole
10. The World's Fair 1964 - Background Music #1
11. The Metro Strings - Travel
12. Bob Cobert - To Tell The Truth
13. K. Palmer - Holiday Playtime
14. Ivor Slaney - Highlight
15. Walter Scharf - Rita
16. K. Palmer - Hackney Carriage
17. Unknown Artist - Music For Children's Activities
18. Peter Yorke - Micrometer
19. Ivor Slaney - Dresden Blue
20. Robert Farnon - Sophistication Waltz
21. Anthony Mawer - Painted Carousels
22. Robert Farnon - Mr. Punch
23. Roger Roger - Pleasure Drive
24. Philip Green - Miami Beach
25. Bonus Track - Attention All Shoppers

Download via WW Download

Retro Stockholm

2007-06-07T19:34:00.001+02:00

Since it is summer and very warm outside I am feeling kind of lazy. But I thought I would post two summer inspired photos depicting how Stockholm looked back in the late 1960s / early 1970s. It looks pretty much the same today, except the color of the train station which has been replaced. Enjoy!

Stockholm, Skärholmen (suburb)

Stockholm, The main train station

Eero Saarinen

2007-06-05T16:21:00.000+02:00

This is a continuation of my posts about my favourite architects from the golden days of architecture (this one is for you janepeepshow). Second up is Eero Saarinen, originally born in Finland in 1910. Relocated to the United States when his family emigrated there in 1923, where he began to study sculpture and furniture design. Saarinen however pursued his ambition to become an architect, his resume contains over 20 buildings.

My favorite Saarinen buildings are the TWA Flight Center at JFK Kennedy Airport in New York and the Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. The Trans World Airlines terminal at JFK is out of this world. The building was built for TWA in 1962 and is totally ultra futuristic and cool. "It was the first airline terminal to have closed circuit television, a central p/a system, baggage carousels, an electronic schedule board..." (source). It has become a landmark which has been featured in many movies, like 'Catch Me if You Can' and 'Death Wish'. The interior looks so swank and futuristic, it is really the essence of what modern jet travel was about in the 1960s. Too bad that they do not build airports like this any longer.

When TWA was bought by American Airlines in 2001 the building fell into decline and was decommissioned. It has then been used as a exhibition center for various events until 2005 when Jet Blue started constructing its new terminal next to it which will incorporate Saarinen's ultra cool building as a front.

Related links
More photos of the TWA Terminal 5 building

TWA Terminal 5 at JFK, New York (recent photo)

TWA Terminal 5 at JFK, New York,1990s. Photo by Kjell Nilsson.

TWA Terminal 5 at JFK, New York (recent photo)

Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C., 1960s