"My memory of the terminal is fuzzy; it was always an odd architectural relic sitting outside the active airport. In 2013 when Open House New York offered access, I jumped at the chance to see it from the inside. I was struck by the textures, unusual shapes and that light; overwhelmed by the sense of being in a time capsule, freezing a time I never lived through. I was able to visit a few more times before access was gone and feel thankful that it will be given new life for future visitors to enjoy." —Diana Zuluaga

"When I was in elementary school, probably in first grade, my class went on a trip to the newly-opened TWA terminal. It was probably the first time I’d been to an airport— my mother hated flying. The experience has stuck with me though I’m not entirely sure why. As I remember it, the main hall was pristine, nearly empty, and very quiet." —Stella Robinson

"My memories of TWA are from my childhood. My grandmother took her first plane ride at the age of 75 and flew TWA yearly for the rest of her life. She would travel to Europe for three weeks in September with my aunt and uncle. My entire family would go to the TWA terminal to see them off. There were approximately 30 of us from Brooklyn and Long Island. It was a big family party until it was time for Grandma to board the plane, it was then that I started to cry and I cried all the way home." —Christensen

"My father lived in Northern Italy in the 70's and through the 80's. I visited him every summer, taking TWA round trip from JFK to Milan Malpensa airport. If I remember correctly, it was flight 841 and 842 return. I have fond memories of awaiting my flight in this very cool terminal, usually sitting upstairs having a snack, looking down to the main lobby area. I remember once checking my luggage at the curb. As the luggage carousel stopped, in Milan, without my suitcase, I was relegated to a Peter Frampton Comes Live T-shirt, Levi's and a pair of flip flops for a week, till my luggage returned from a European tour." —Lisa Malaspina

"My dad was the TWA lead project engineer during the finishing months of the terminal and all of Flight Wing One. We took family vacations where we would check in and my parents would head to the Ambassador Club and my siblings and I would hang on the couches and steps. Returning my dad would go get the station wagon and we would wait at the end of curbside (recreated here with my daughter). I am taken back to those times every time I smell jet exhaust." —Michael Keogh

"As teenagers growing up in Far Rockaway, we used to spend a Saturday night at the TWA Flight Center. We were too young to drink but watching the planes take off and land while sitting in such an opulent "living room" was better than going to the movies. As an adult, I'd choose to fly TWA just to experience the 'tunnels.'" —Linda G. Miller

"I remember being a very young child, probably about 6 or 7, in the car with my mother, driving to JFK to pick up my grandfather. He was returning on a TWA flight from Italy visiting our family. The terminal exterior scared me a little -it looked like a gigantic spaceship about to take off." —Rachel LaQuercia

"Both of my parents worked at TWA, in fact, that's how they met! So you could say the story of TWA is my origin story! My Dad hails from Argentina, and my Mom is from NYC. My twin sister and I were 6 months old when we took our first flight to Argentina! JFK airport and TWA were a large part of our childhood; we still have some of the iconic red TWA flight bags!" —Emily Vieyra-Haley

"I flew TWA flight 842 to Milan for business 4-5 times a year for at least 18 years. One year, on a Saturday, there was a huge blizzard on the east coast. The airline assured me that the flight would not be canceled. I had planned to meet about 8 fellow travelers at the first class lounge and we were supposed to have a little party before boarding. I went to Katz's Deli amidst the storm and bought a bunch of pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. Other people were bringing other goodies. Well, everyone arrived late. 2 hours from Philly and 3 hours from Miami. No problem. The plane was delayed at least 8 hours and the airport actually closed with no amenities to be had. Thank the lord for those sandwiches. In addition, the Village People were also on this flight dressed in regular street clothes. They were in the lounge as well. They were not sitting near each other and not conversing. That night was definitely unforgettable." —Helen Feinstein

"My father, an electronics technician, deeply admired the craft that went into modern architecture and so he made a slide image document of every building at the 1964-65 World's Fair (a collection I still have and treasure). But before that, Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal opened, and although my parents weren't really air travelers as yet, they lived near the airport and made a special trip around 1963 just to see and experience the new terminal. I was the lucky toddler in tow, and they made a home movie of me running, dancing and singing under the arching rooflines of the terminal's soaring, magical, undulating interior. Even at that age, it left an indelible stamp on my precociously artistic soul, and as a child of the '60s and '70s I kept a scrapbook of clippings of modern interiors, and I drew my own childish but elaborate "architectural plans" of futuristic, organic spaces and places I wanted to inhabit one day. My flight of fancy powered me through the High School of Art and Design and then through Cooper Union, and my love of modern architecture remains as strong now, more than 5 decades later, as it was the day it first made me dance with joy." —Irene Schaub

"For years, a series of images circled around my mind that I thought were just a dream: me as a young child, walking on a bright red floor, so sharp in relief against a stark white wall. Holding my uncle’s hand as he pointed out my mother waiting for me on the level below, and a profound feeling of mystery and wonder about my new home. Only recently did I discover that this vision was, in fact, real, after stumbling across pictures of the TWA terminal as it undergoes renovation. It turns out that this was actually my first memory in life: 3 years old, an immigrant reuniting with my parents, who had come 18 months earlier to forge the path ahead in this country. And this building, this gateway, was the grandest realization of everything that I was promised and everything I anticipated about New York, about America. It’s easy to see now how it all seemed like a dream." —James Pazhavila

"I was an architectural history major in college and graduate school, and I had probably seen as many photos of the TWA building in classes over the years as any work of architecture in the world. But no photo prepares you for the experience of being in the building. The first time I went inside was during OHNY Weekend in 2013 and it was a revelation. I realized immediately that every photo I had ever seen of TWA was completely inadequate in capturing what it is like to be inside that space. Sometimes you walk into a building and you instantly feel different in the best possible way…you feel the excitement, awe, wonder. That’s what happened for me at TWA that first time–and actually it still happens every time I get to go there. It should be obvious, but it took TWA to remind me, that no photograph–however talented the photographer or great the photo–will ever replace what it’s like to experience a piece of great architecture. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one to think so…I spent that day with thousands of people who had traveled to JFK just to walk around an empty building!" —Gregory Wessner