Long Beach Airport

The Long Beach Airport Terminal (1941) is a masterpiece of the early modern style, bridging the transition from the modernistic Streamline Moderne style of the ‘thirties to the geometric abstraction of the post-war International Style. It was an avant-garde work of architecture for its time, and is a unique building in the City of Long Beach. The architects, W. Horace Austin and Kennth Wing, Sr., were important Long Beach architects, each with a significant body of work in the City and the region.

The use of ceramic mosaic floor tiles throughout the building was an innovative way to include extensive mural decoration as public art in a building with a lot of glass and other functional constraints. The themes and decorative style of the ceramic murals were unique and innovative. Although the imagery was representational, the stylized forms reflected modern post-war artistic trends. The symbolic elements were selected to enrich the experience of the traveler, and evoke a larger context for air travel with allusions to other forms of transportation and communication in the world.