Washington Dulles International Airport Main Terminal

The Main Terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia was completed in 1962 to a design by the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, one of his last major works before his death that same year. Its most distinctive feature is a sweeping, catenary-curved roof suspended between rows of outward-leaning concrete piers, a lightweight tensile structure intended to give the building a sense of soaring flight suited to its function as an airport terminal. Saarinen designed the terminal around an early version of the mobile lounge, wheeled vehicles that carried passengers directly from the terminal to aircraft parked on the tarmac, a system meant to let the terminal itself remain compact while the airport's operations expanded around it. The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 2016, one of relatively few purpose-built airport terminals to receive that designation, recognizing its place within Saarinen's body of work, which also includes New York's TWA Flight Center.