I’m not a big fan airports. They’re just a necessary obstacle that gets in the way of being where you want to go. British ones are generally especially bad on that score (and I haven’t even had the misfortune of using terminal 5 yet).
So it’s nice to travel occasionally through one that’s well-laid out and beautifully designed:
Madrid Airport
The flowing ceiling is so beautiful I really didn’t mind being there at all. I wish more airports showed that kind of imagination.
It’s not my favourite though – Dulles airport in Washington DC wins that hand down. Designed by Finnish Architect Eero Saarinen (who designed the nearly-as-lovely old TWA terminal at JFK), its roof is in one single swooping curve. It’s breathtaking.
Dulles Airport, Washington DC
(Picture by Feuillu)
7 responses so far ↓
BiB // August 27, 2008 at 3:43 pm |
Ooh, I think I’ve been to all three of the airports you mention. Yes, JFK really struck me.
I hate flying and airport fuss. Tempelhof was the only airport I’ve ‘enjoyed’ for its loveliness. What a building.
Geoff // August 27, 2008 at 3:47 pm |
Oh, how could I forget Templehof and its (Nazi) loveliness. Did I hear that its going to be knocked down? That would be a tragedy.
BiB // August 27, 2008 at 3:59 pm |
No. Closed down, but not knocked down. Actually, there’s still been no final decision on what to do with the place.
Geoff // August 27, 2008 at 4:04 pm |
I’m sure you could come up with something. They should put you in charge.
BiB // August 27, 2008 at 4:45 pm |
The only brainwave so far is for it to be turned into a massive call-centre. Truly I am a man of bad ideas. Desperately trying to think of how to revolutionise my life as I sit staring down a translation. Maybe I could live and work there, if it’s on sale for 2p (and someone will give me a 2p mortgage).
Geoff // August 27, 2008 at 4:58 pm |
Perhaps you & the Russian could take a wing on each and compete to rebuild it in a reality TV extravaganza. Sort of like Changing Rooms on a giant scale. Now that the Cold War is back it would be a fitting way to trivialise the whole thing.
BiB // August 28, 2008 at 3:20 pm |
He’d win. He’d build, gradually encroaching onto my territory, and I’d cry and flounder huddled in one corner.
If the Cold War does get properly up and running, someone from the press had better bloody come and interview us about the difficulty of straddling the political divide. Mind you, and, I’m happy to say, countering the bollocks his Russian friend in Berlin has already been coming out with, he was, today, issued a new British visa without any hassle.