Airports

I recently read this fascinating article in The New Yorker, while on vacation to New Orleans. I am just little late in blogging about it. The article was by Paul Goldberger on Can anybody design a nice airport? SITUATION TERMINAL was the name of the article in the Journeys issue on April 21, 2008. Here is the link:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/skyline/2008/04/21/080421crsk_skyline_goldberger

I was hooked after this brilliant opening paragraph:

Airports are essentially machines for processing people, airplanes, automobiles, cargo, and luggage—all of which move in different ways, and which need to be connected at certain points and separated by rigid security at others. Just getting all the parts to work together seems overwhelming—indeed, it did overwhelm British Airways last month at Heathrow, outside London, when Terminal 5, an eight-billion-dollar structure that was supposed to transform Heathrow from a congested tangle into a place that would thrill passengers with the joy of air travel, all but shut down on its opening day, when a computerized baggage system malfunctioned.