Architecture

AeroTrain running at IAD; Mobile lounges still on duty

Architecture, Aviation history, Exhibits, Getting around, Layover, Lounges, Transportation, , , ,

Last week the Dulles International Airport (IAD) started using its AeroTrain airport train system to replace some, but not all of the mobile lounges that have been taking passengers between the Main Terminal and the Midfield Concourses for years.

I really like those kooky lounges. Riding on them always offers a unique view of the airport.  And there’s a black and white picture somewhere in the airport’s archives that explains the “lounge” part perfectly: it shows females attendants serving drinks to passengers on their way to the plane.

Even this photo shows travelers who seem to have no worries at all about making their connecting flights.

There are certainly some upsides to the AeroTrain.

One benefit is that right now there’s a photography exhibit in the tunnel connecting the temporary Concourse C with the C-Gates AeroTrain station.

(Photo by: Kanji Takeno)

The exhibit “Washington, DC: Through Our Eyes,” includes photos shot by members of the White House News Photographers Association. The 44 photos currently on display are just the first group of more than 200 photos that will be displayed on a rotating basis.

And,  if you find yourself with a long layover at Dulles International Airport (IAD) and have wrung all the excitement out of riding the AeroTrain and looking at the photo exhibit, then check out the cool stuff at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just down the road.

The museum is big enough for the to Smithsonian to display thousands of aviation and space artifacts that just won’t fit on the National Mall.  Like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress  “Enola Gay.”

Found, discarded and recycled materials: art at Albany International Airport

Architecture, Art, Exhibits, ,

New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB) may be unique among airports in having a gallery space open to the public and an on-site curator who is also an artist.  So it’s always a treat when a new exhibition kicks off.

The newest one, Material Witness, is no exception.


(Model City, 2009, Assorted study models, cardboard, paper, plastic, metal, glue, tape)

Produced in cooperation with the nearby Rensselaer Schools of Architecture, and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the exhibit includes drawings, photographs, study models and site-specific constructions, including floor-to-ceiling “trash walls” that reflect the possibilities found in discarded or recycled materials.


(Trash Walls, (detail), 2009, found material constructions)

Material Witness is in the Albany International Airport Gallery, pre-security on the third floor of the terminal through June 20, 2010.

Airport body scanners: invading your personal space & the terminal space

Architecture, Security, Terrorism, ,

I spent much of the day yesterday writing a column for MSNBC.com about the pros and cons of airport body scanners.

That column, which posts Thursday, January 14th, 2010, focuses on some of the privacy issues surrounding the “virtual strip search” aspect of these machines.

I didn’t have room for in the story for the comments of airport terminal planner and designer, Pat Askew, from Perkins+Will.

We don’t think of it right away, but Askew points out that these big, expensive body scanner machines will not only change the TSA procedures, but also have an impact on the look and layout of present – and future – airport terminals.

Askew says:

  • Body scanning machines take more space, especially width-wise, than do the current magnetometers (or walk-through metal detectors).  It’s already hard to find space in existing terminals for all the necessary equipment they needs to be there;
  • Processing rates are greater with body scanners than with metal detectors. This means longer lines, more machines – and more required space;
  • Explosive detection devices for carry-ons will soon be required. This equipment will be smaller, but similar to the technology currently used for checked luggage. It will replace the current x-ray machines used to examine carry-ons and operate in much the same way, but may be larger and slower….and need more space.

So next time you’re Stuck at the Airport, take a good look around. That great piece of public art in the terminal may soon need to make way for a hulking piece of security equipment.

Greetings from New Zealand’s Auckland Airport

Air Travel, Architecture, Art, Assistance, Etiquette, Exhibits, Free Stuff,

First impressions are important, especially if you’re a city and you’d like folks who are just passing through to come back and stay awhile.  So you’d think every city would want its airport – its front door – to be all pretty and nice.

Like, say, Auckland Airport. Check out what greets visitors arriving on international flights:

Auckland welcome

No one is going to mistake this for an airport in Omaha, now are they?

And here’s another nice touch:  volunteers at the Auckland airport greet every international flight with complimentary coffee, tea, and travel information.

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Love the layover: Architecture exhibition about O’Hare Airport

Architecture, Exhibits

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From now through May 1, the Chicago Architecture Foundation (224 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago) is featuring a free exhibition about the architecture of O’Hare International Airport.

Frequent travelers who have spent way too much time stuck at O’Hare may quibble, but this exhibition looks at the airport “as an international model of airport design.”

How’s that?

“Innovations such as a central parking garage, movable jetway bridges, and the two-tiered drive separating arrivals and departures, established O’Hare as the industry standard for jet-age airport design.”

Decide for yourself: The exhibition includes photographs of O’Hare from the 1950s through the 1980s, a pair of Eames O’Hare Tandem Sling Seats, an acoustic installation of airport sounds, and a newspaper brochure with additional historical material.

The exhibition is curated by Charles Waldheim, principal of Urban Agency and director of the landscape architecture program at the University of Toronto.

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Photos:  “View of Upper Level Ticketing Lobby, Chicago O’Hare International Airport,” 1963. Hedrich-Blessing photo, courtesy Chicago History Museum,
Above: “Entryway Drive Upper Level and Terminal Buildings, Chicago O’Hare International Airport,” 1963. Hedrich-Blessing photo, courtesy Hedrich-Blessing Archive / Chicago History Museum,