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Dulles International Airport - A Closer Look

Eero Saarinen brought a sensuous, curvaceous aesthetic to modernism. Click on the icons to learn more.

Wing-shaped Roof

The wing-like curve of the roof is suggestive of flight; it defies gravity with its uplifting and theatrical form.

Columns

Saarinen adapted a familiar form – the classical colonnade – for Dulles’s modernist façade.

Glass Around Building

Held up by steel and concrete, the massive expanses of windows reflect (and invite into the interior) the sky and clouds, again reminding us that this building is about flight.

Previous Closer Look: Seagram Building

Next Closer Look: Vanna Venturi House

Dulles International Airport - A Closer Look