Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ten Terrific Terminals

MSN.Travel spotlights notable new terminals that recently opened or are about to open

"9 Amazing New Airports" is the headline on a story on msn.travel. The story itself proceeds to name 10 fabulous new structures. I guess the headline writers can't count very well, but the list is interesting. Indeed, nine of the 10 that writer Harriet Baskas selected, while amazing and dramatic, aren't entire airports but rather individual new terminals at existing airports. (The exception is Branson, MO's new airport, opening next year.)

Perhaps I'm splitting hairs when I should simply be grateful that there are inspiring spaces that we pass through by the millions every year en route to or from our aircraft -- or while we wait in security lines, wait for our flights to board or wait for our luggage. Of course, the waiting doesn't usually take place in the sublime soaring spaces that are the best parts of the terminals that Baskas identified. The website showcases them in a slide show. More likely, we're in snaking security lines or sitting in crowded departure lounges. (Baskas does include useful information on amenities that help us pass the time.)

The first architecturally significant terminal that entered my consciousness was the Eero Saarinen-design TWA Flight Center (top photo, right) at New York's Idlewild Airport (now JFK International Airport). Inspired by the wings of a bird in flight, the terminal seemed large and futuristic when it opened in 1962. It was a time when air travel was a glamorous adventure, and Saarinen's grounded concrete bird conveyed that feeling.

The last time I went inside the terminal was in the waning days of TWA. I was changing planes at JFK, checked in my bags for an international flight and with time to spare, walked back to TWA and wandered in. Once a busy and glamorous space, the terminal had become shabby with security screening facilities cluttering the middle of the space. After TWA went out of business, the terminal was threatened with demolition. Fortunately, it was saved, and has now been creatively incorporated into fast-growing JetBlue's new terminal (bottom photo), scheduled to open next month.

Of Baskas' list of beauties, three terminals (Changi, Heathrow, Beijing) opened in the first three months of 2008, and four have opened or should be opening during the last three months of the year. Here are her choices:

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8 comments:

  1. Melanie MulhallSeptember 26, 2008 at 9:26 AM

    Claire,

    This is an interesting list, but I want to know what your top half dozen or more picks would be.

    Melanie

    ReplyDelete
  2. sibylleSeptember 27, 2008 at 7:05 AM

    I ownder what will happen with these terminals, and airports in general, with the recent problems in the airline industry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2008 at 1:44 PM

    Hi Claire

    Thanks for mentioning my MSN.com article in your lovely travel blog.

    I enjoyed your comments about the article and agree with you on some of them. The 9 vs. 10 issue is funny; I originally had Bangkok in there as #10, but replaced it with a second JFK terminal. Counting JFK twice didn't seem right. So that's how the 9 airports in the title morphed into 10 "airports/terminals."

    Are they all "amazing" as the headline writer hoped? Maybe not.. .but at least we're getting some fresh and new spaces - always a step in the right direction.

    Please do let me know if you have comments on any of my other work. I write occasionally for MSN.com but have my own blog (www.StuckatTheAirport.com) and write regularly for USAToday.com and MSNBC.com.

    Harriet Baskas

    ReplyDelete
  4. ClaireWalterSeptember 27, 2008 at 2:08 PM

    Melanie - I'm guessing that Harriet has been through a lot more airports than I have. Even though they are not new, I would add Denver International Airport (DEN) to the list for its soaring tentlike main terminal, Paris's Charles de Gaulle (CDG) for the futuristic Plexiglas-domed moving walkways that take passengers from one building to another and dramatic concourses with sun shining through through lacy exposed structural framework, Zurich's Kloten (ZRH) for its cleanliness, obsessive efficiency and railroad station right below the terminal, and Hong Kong's Chep Lak Kok (HKK) for its grand scale, soaring beauty and integrated ferry terminals.

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  5. AnonymousOctober 2, 2008 at 5:41 AM

    What about the worst airports?

    ReplyDelete
  6. jamesOctober 5, 2008 at 6:43 PM

    As a native Michigander I've passed through Detroit multiple times, the last being in May catching a Frontier flight out of the old terminal. I'm glad to see it bulldozed - it had the aesthetic pleasure of a Yukon truck stop and was constantly cramped and overcrowded.

    Haven't seen the new terminal, but if its anything like the McNamara counterpart Detroit should be proud.

    One of the worst? LAX's Tom Bradley and Terminal 3. In a fantasy world one could snap their fingers and an airport like Munich's "Franz Josef Strauss" plop right over the entire existing LAX infrastructure - saving the retro theme building of course.

    Other than the graceful tentacles of the theme building there is nothing iconic or inspiring about LAX - which is unfortunate as its a gateway for millions and millions of diverse residents and visitors.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Branson HotelsDecember 30, 2008 at 2:37 PM

    I'm glad that Branson is now opening an airport there! Will there be shuttles going to the Branson hotels
    as well?

    ReplyDelete
  8. ClaireWalterDecember 30, 2008 at 8:30 PM

    Branson Hotels - Wouldn't YOU know about shuttles between airport and hotels? Customarily, hotels operate airport shuttles to/from their properties.

    ReplyDelete

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