Tyler Morse Readies TWA Collection for Museum Space at JFK

The CEO of both MCR and Morse Development, Tyler Morse brings extensive hospitality expertise—he was an assistant to Barry Sternlicht during their time at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Morse’s portfolio now includes New York’s High Line Hotel among 84 other properties around the country—to the $265 million TWA Hotel project he began in 2015. But what really comes in handy for the project is his passion for Saarinen’s building, the airline that commissioned it, and, essentially, all things mid-century. And he’s assembled a collection to prove it—from rotary phones, ashtrays, and martini glasses to TWA flight attendant uniforms and captain’s hats, a wanderlust that may have been fueled by his early days as a ski instructor in Chile and a baggage handler at LAX.

Today the approximately 75 pieces, some purchased, and others donated by former TWA employees, are on display in a temporary gallery at the TWA Lounge at 1WTC. But soon there will be a permanent museum for them in Queens. It will join the 50,000 square feet of conference and event space that INC Architecture & Design is plotting out underneath the new hotel. The plan is for it to be open to hotel guests and mid century–minded members of the public alike.

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> See more from the June 2018 issue of Interior Design