The Inchon International Airport in Seoul.
Architecture takes to the skies
A large number of new airports or expansion projects are on the drawboards throughout the region from Dubai to Cairo. Curtis Fentress of the US-based Fentress Bradburn Architects provides a success formula for designing airports which cater to today's traveller.
01 MAY 2001
Millions of people fly today. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) estimates that by 2003 close to 1.8 billion passengers will be travelling worldwide. Flying domestically has become an essential and sometimes daily form of transportation, while international travel is becoming more affordable and convenient for global travellers.
Globally, we are witnessing a movement to construct more efficient and technologically-advanced airports. Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico and other international centres of trade and commerce understand that airports are essential to their economies' competitiveness in global markets. Yet with ever-expanding opportunities, critical issues need to be addressed.
From the perspective of economic development, airports are magnets for business expansion. Companies want to build their facilities near airports, or in many cases, on the airport property itself. Due to growing Internet commerce, companies require quick delivery of products to their customers. Being located near an airport provides a competitive edge.
Airport architects have the responsibility of providing these millions of passengers some modicum of relief when passing through airports. The functional criteria of a modern airport, which is designed to the technical requirements of airport commissioners, directors and managers in the interest of public safety, must be taken to the next level.
It was not until the late 1960s when Eero Saarinen designed Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, that airports started to be viewed as more than places for enplaning and deplaning passengers. Only recently have airports begun to address modern travellers' concern with comfort and convenience Ñ such things as short walking distances, simple, easily-understood circulation systems, shopping, hotels, meeting rooms and business communications centres.
With the increase in airline traffic and related vehicular congestion, getting to and from the airport has become difficult. Two decades ago, the solution to this problem would have been to add more highway lanes and build more parking. Due to existing constraints, many of today's cities are examining links between regional transit systems and airports to ease congestion.
As a result, many recent airport design schemes focus on mass-transit solutions to access the terminal. These solutions include extending urban or regional rail systems, improving airport bus services, connecting outlying parking lots with automated people movers, offering advanced check-in and seat selection and through-checking of baggage at remote terminals. Fixed-rail transit represents another obvious opportunity.
Coupled with traffic congestion is the reality that airports are dealing with depleting land availability options. Kansai International Airport (KIX), which was designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 1994, was a remarkable project and the world's first major offshore airport, built entirely on a man-made island in Osaka Bay. Costing $12 billion and representing one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in Japan, Kansai built a 3,500 m (11,480 ft) single runway with terminal facilities accommodating an initial 31 million passengers a year. Due to its offshore location, a ferry terminal was built to make access by water as convenient as by road and rail; the 375-km bridge connecting the airport to the mainland consisted of a six-lane road on the upper deck and a two-way rail line on the lower deck. The man-made island also offers great possibilities for future expansion. The concept of an offshore airport also avoids aircraft noise pollution problems.
The creation of KIX is a major contribution to the Kansai region, particularly the city of Osaka. With a population of 24 million (comparable to Canada), there are more international conferences held in the Kansai region than in Tokyo, and tourism is an industry that is growing quickly.
The newly-opened Inchon International Airport in Seoul, Republic of South Korea, is built on reclaimed land between two islands in Inchon Harbour and will serve as the main international airport for Seoul and the Republic of South Korea. Because air traffic within the Seoul region has increased significantly, it was clear a decade ago that a new airport was needed.
Gateway
Today, airports act as gateways to the places they inhabit; an idea that Denver's then-mayor Federico Pe-a sought to express in the design of the Denver International Airport. Pe-a declared that the design "must be memorable" and do for Denver what the Sydney Opera House does for Australia. The Rocky Mountains served as an inspiration in shaping the Teflon-coated fibreglass tensile structure of Denver International Airport's passenger terminal complex and symbolise Denver's western mountain heritage.
The Korean Airport Authority also wanted the new Inchon International Airport to be reflective of Korean culture as it will become a gateway to their city. The design is inspired by the historical form of a simple Korean home and is replete with imagery derived from the colours, patterns and shapes of native animals, ecosystems and costume.
Both Denver and Korea provide a definable and memorable image that rekindles the lost excitement of air travel. The airports mirror forms from which their respective locations are intuitively communicated. In both cases, this desire produced the largest public works projects in their countries and continents within the last generation.
Amenities
Airports are also increasingly competing for transfer traffic. The more amenities such as business, entertainment, recreation and tourist attractions at the airport, the more likely travellers will use the airport as a transfer hub.
The Hong Kong government has plans to develop Lantau Island into a tourist destination, anchored by the new airport that is located on the north shore of the island. Negotiations are already under way with Disney Development to create a major theme park on the island.
Retailers know the veracity of the old dictum, "location, location, location." With each person spending on average one hour within the terminal, it's no wonder retailers and airports have focused on this profitable market. In today's fast-paced, globalised world, airports are key retail, food and beverage venues. Some of the most successful airport concession areas, such as those found in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Copenhagen resemble full-service shopping centres. A large portion of the concessionaires' target market pass through airports; their demographics, age, income, shopping patterns, etc, are a boon for retailers.
Emphasis on brand recognition is another successful approach used by major airport concessionaires to enhance economic activities at airports. Passengers with limited time need to make quick decisions. Recognising a brand name can speed up their decisions and encourage transactions. The customer knows what to expect, and ultimately, the consistency of the experience leads to customer satisfaction.
Airport retail is blending nationally recognised retailers with regionally themed shops and restaurants. By selling regionally themed items, retailers can tap into the lucrative market of those making last-minute gift purchases that reflect the area in which they visited.
Layout
Layout of terminals must have logical and clear plans that the architecture of the building aids in orienting and leading the passenger from curbside to aircraft and aircraft to baggage claim in the most direct way. The lighting design complements the architecture while providing comfortable, ambient, natural light to assist passenger orientation throughout the building. Colours and the material selection are coordinated to ease navigation and enhance the comfort level of the passenger. Interior landscaping throughout the building feels fresh and inviting as passengers pass through its spaces. Seating surfaces are soft, and strategically dispersed for the maximum privacy of conversation.
Concern with humanism is becoming integrally expressed in airport terminal architecture. Comfort is paramount: spaces soaring, not constricting; edges and surfaces softened; services easy to locate; feelings of tunnelling or burrowing through the 'machine' of the building minimised; circulation paths maximised to reduce the appearance and feeling of herding. Interior transportation in the form of escalators, elevators, moving walkways and the quick subterranean automated people movers are being incorporated into the interior architecture to reduce passenger walking distances.
Conscientious attentiveness should be incorporated into contemporary conveniences such as handicap-accessible restrooms, and infant changing tables in both men's and women's restrooms and family restrooms. Interior places must be replete with artwork commissioned specifically for the terminals. Large places of gathering Ñ the Great Halls Ñ should be deliberately livened with interior landscaping.
Another trend in comfort and convenience is technology. Travellers want to remain connected while they are in transit, and that means access to e-mail accounts, the Internet, fax transmissions and the like. In Pasadena airport in the US, counters in the gate areas are equipped with outlets for hooking up and recharging laptop computers. At Houston Intercontinental Airport, TouchNet kiosks offer users several options: from one compact unit, users can send and receive faxes, retrieve and send e-mail, access the Internet, log on to real-time information systems and generate laser copies of on-screen data as well as hard copy documents. There is now, and will continue to be, a major concentration on the needs of the business traveller.
Additional conveniences are being offered. Concessions, restaurants, arcades, child-care facilities, television spaces and art galleries help travellers actively or passively maximise their time in the airport. There are discussions concerning the introduction of aromatic smells and music into various spaces to make the passenger feel as comfortable as possible. The principal focus is the creation of a sense of place wrapped in feeling, awareness, sensation, emotion, response, concern and sensitivity for the contemporary traveller.
Today's airport designers, architects and artists are working in unison to create a sense of place that is both functionally and aesthetically pleasing. The spaces and their art reflect not only the history, geography and artistic heritage of their location, but also the architectural spaces they occupy. This approach changes the way such art is considered, making it a part of the structures themselves rather than a separate entity.
In many airports, the line between "fine art" and "functional art" is blurred. The "36th Street Wall" (1996) by artist Martha Schwartz is an example of this crossover genre. Striking in its simplicity, the 1.5-mile long concrete wall undulates along one side of Miami International Airport. The wall's mass is broken up by randomly placed round inserts of glass in jewel-toned colours. The wall provides visual pleasure for passing motorists, but its purpose goes further. The wall also serves as a barrier for flight traffic, reducing noise in the surrounding neighbourhood. Schwartz's wall is just one way in which airport art is linking aesthetics and function.
While murals and sculptures are still prevalent in airports, artists' input is cropping up in ever more inventive ways. At Washington National Airport, art is a vital part of the new terminal. Artist designed flooring, walls and fixtures are integral to the overall effect. Architect Cesar Pelli was closely involved with the artist selection process, assuring an integrated end result with the potential to engage and excite travellers. Art also enhances the architecture, becoming an organic part of the building. As Pelli told ArtNews, "I don't subscribe to the distinction between architecture and the 'other' arts. They are one and the same."
Airports rely on art to fulfil a variety of purposes, goals and functions. Most importantly, art helps to create a sense of place for the airport, representing the local region to all that enter.
Because the increasing population of the world continues to concentrate in major urban areas and the number of people travelling by air is also increasing, airports are becoming more than simple people processors. Airports are maximizing economic benefits, while concurrently meeting the demands of users.
We are entering an era where there is growing competition among airports for passenger and airline business; in order to survive, airports must function efficiently, remain technologically state-of-the-art and flexible and be architecturally aesthetic to reflect its community.
We are confronted with ever-pressing issues of passenger comfort and convenience, security, operations efficiencies, flexibility of spaces, maintenance and the image of the transportation complex.
Equally important is the need to focus on the human demand of how the space lives, how it feels and the regionally symbolic experience of passing through it.
