TWA Flight Center – Photo Swizz152 via Wikimedia Commons
With the advent of jet engines in commercial and military aviation in the 1950s and 1970s, the Jet Age marked a radical transformation not only in air travel, but also in design andairport architecture. On the one hand, airplanes could fly faster, farther and higher than propeller-driven aircraft, thus democratizing air travel and making it more efficient and accessible; on the other, they became symbol of progress and modernityinfluencing popular culture, the perception of air travel as a “sophisticated experience,” and the design of airports themselves. Airports were supposed to adapt to new aircraft and passenger needs, while also reflecting the optimism and technological progress of the jet age through architecture.
Thus, fluid lines and futuristic shapes evoking flight began to combine with the operational efficiency of the centralized terminalscharacterised by open and bright spaces, with large windows that allowed for see the planes movingwith easy access to the gates, and equipped with lounges, restaurants and shopping areas.
Among the most iconic American examples, the terminals designed by Eero Saarinen stand out: the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport in New York (1962), with its fluid shapes and futuristic shell structures that evoked movement and speed, and that of theDulles International Airport in Washington DC (1962), with a concave roof, supported by reinforced concrete pillars inclined outwards, and enormous curved windows that highlighted the clear contrast between the imposing suspended structure and the lightness of the transparencies. How can we forget the Theme Building (1961) of LAX airport in Los Angeles, designed by William Pereira as a symbol of the space agerather than the jet age, because of its “Googie” aesthetic that recalled a flying saucer on four legs.
In the same years, an Italy in the midst of its economic boom It was going through the liveliest and most glorious phases in the history of construction, with designers, who soon became famous, who suddenly had the opportunity to work in fertile ground of discoveries. It was the time when even engineering, which had tended to be relegated to being less galmour of architecture, became the protagonist, acting as a backdrop to films and commercials. Unforgettable Mina in Never like this, Barilla carousel filmed by Piero Gherardi (Federico Fellini’s costume designer), while singing and floats with ethereal grace between the skylights and the stays in coverage of the Alitalia hangar in Fiumicino, designed by Richard Morandi and just inaugurated in 1966.
Below, ten designer airports that have made the history of architecture and engineering.
Source: living.corriere.it
