Saarinen’s original futuristic design featured a prominent wing-shaped thin shell roof over the main terminal (head house), unusual tube-shaped departure-arrival corridors originally wrapped in red carpet — and critical to the spirit of the design — expansive windows that highlighted departing and arriving jets. The concrete shell’s evocative shape — which inspired Saarinen to develop special, curved edge ceramic tile [...]

The building stands on the San Fernando Valley side of the Hollywood Hills, just off of Mulholland Drive. It is a one story octagon with around 2200 square feet (200m2) of living space. Most distinctively, the house is perched atop a concrete pole nearly thirty feet high. This innovative design was Lautner’s solution to a site that, with a slope [...]