LAX color tunnels

Not to be confused with Airport Tunnel (Los Angeles).

LAX color tunnels is a term used to describe decorative mosaic decor installed in several tunnels built in 1961 at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).^[1] Seven tunnels were created, three remain open to the public.

Tunnel under LAX Terminal 6

Designed in the 1950s, the tunnels were envisioned by the architecture firm Pereira & Luckman, to minimize the experienced distance of the 300-to-500-foot-long (91 to 152 m) tunnels.^[2][3] The work was overseen by Charles D. Kratka,^[2][4] the firm's head of interior design and they were designed by Janet Bennett, then a young artist on his team.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} The tiles were produced by Alfonso Pardinas of Byzantine Mosaics in San Francisco.^[9]

Tunnels

Main article: Terminals of Los Angeles International Airport

Six color tunnels were created for LAX. As of 2025^[update], four of the tunnels remain largely in their original condition, and three are currently open to the public. Five of the colorful mosaic tile designs have been preserved.^[10][11]

The tunnel connecting Terminal 3's rotunda to baggage claim remains closed, but its mosaic was preserved following a major renovation of the terminal between 2020 and 2024.^[12] The tunnel connecting Terminal 4 to its baggage claim area remains in use and is historically significant for featuring one of the earliest moving walkways ever constructed, nicknamed the "Astrowalk." Similarly, the tunnels at Terminals 5 and 6 continue to serve passengers and retain much of their original character.^[11] Terminal 7’s tunnel was expanded and repurposed as a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility for processing arriving international travelers, with its mosaic preserved.

The only tunnel that has been demolished is the one formerly connecting Terminal 2 to its baggage claim area. It was removed to make way for a CBP processing facility.

In addition to the main color tunnels, smaller connecting tunnels were built between Terminals 4, 5, 6, and 7. The passages linking Terminals 4, 5, and 6 remain open to passengers transferring between terminals. However, the tunnel from Terminal 6 to Terminal 7 now functions as a "sterile corridor," reserved for international passengers arriving at Terminal 6 who must proceed to customs at Terminal 7.^[11][13]

Terminals 1 and 8 were never constructed with connecting tunnels.

Legacy

Main article: Los Angeles International Airport in popular culture

The hallways with their extensive tile-mosaic walls have appeared in a number of films and television programs,^[9] sometimes as symbolic funnels or liminal spaces. The tunnels appeared in Jackie Brown,^[14] Airplane!, and Mad Men,^[15] among many others.^[2] In 2013, a Portland, Oregon company called The Athletic produced color-blocked tile-mosaic mural LAX Airport Socks.^[16]