The TWA Flight Center at JFK is a marvel of mid-century design in the Jet Age, a sleek, futuristic place that evokes a bird in flight. It’s been largely off-limits to the public since 2001, but architecture photographer Max Touhey got a rare look inside. His remarkable photos provide a glimpse of the golden era of air travel, a time when flying was exciting and new.

The building, a designated historical landmark, stands in stark contrast to the almost institutional nature of most airport terminals. It was architect Eero Saarinen’s final project, and opened after his death in 1962. Although its features and amenities may seem quaint, even antiquated, today, the TWA Flight Center was a beacon of the future with its electronic schedule displays, closed-circuit televisions and food court. The original terminal closed in 2001, but portions of it reopened seven years later as part of Jet Blue’s new Terminal 5.

In June, historical preservationist Lori Walters and her team at ChronoPoints scanned the space using three-dimensional terrestrial lasers to create detailed digital models. Curbed NY sent Touhey to document the process and the building. He had four hours to roam around unfettered.

“My first impression [of the terminal] was something I’ll never forget, and so were hundreds of moments to follow,” Touhey says. “There were no access limitations, so I even covered the creepy basement level, the baggage claim in the north wing, everything.”

Touhey shot with Canon 6D bodies fitted with an 85mm f/1.8 and a 16-35 f/2.8 L II lens. It was absolutely vital that he get the light just right, so he made three exposures of each shot, a process called bracketing. Some of these exposures were combined in Photoshop to provide greater dynamic range, which refers to the lightest and darkest parts of an image. Touhey made 700 photographs in all, a few hundred of which were bracketed or used in a time lapse video.

There are no end of amazing details, but Touhey was especially impressed by the meticulously tiled shoeshine station, which features small figurines holding the shoe platforms aloft. (Of course he took a seat and put his feet up.) Touhey found another “architectural surprise” at the rear of the terminal, where a sleek angular form that resembles a plane taking flight stands alongside a wide, curving staircase.

“Sometimes you can enter a space and while it’s impressive, you can understand from that single perspective what to expect from every other perspective. That couldn’t be further from the truth in Saarinen’s terminal,” Touhey says. “There are surprises at every bend. A few that literally had me stop in disbelief.'”

JetBlue wants to turn the historic structure into The TWA Flight Center Hotel, and Touhey feels compelled to document the past before it’s lost. “I think it’s important that every significant space has a visual record to go back to,” he says. “This one in particular is a symbol of the Jet Age and a true architectural masterpiece, inside and out.”