Designer Forum - December 2008

By Larry Weeks

The airport floor, if well conceived and executed, can transcend mere function and set the stage for a content rich space that invites visitors to become a part of its greater story. 

Modern airports represent immense power. Many are spectacles of technical complexity, engineering efficiency, and structural technology. Like today’s aircraft, their immense scale and effortless spans appear to flaunt man’s apparent triumph over gravity. Unfortunately, that’s where the story too often stops—well short of the layers required to bring the richness, scale and personality to a place so influential in the shaping of today’s culture. 

We all know a great story when we hear one.

In our work, we are storytellers. We use architecture, sculpture, industrial design, branding, digital media, lighting, graphic design, interior design and signing to illuminate and communicate the unique story of a place in a way that reveals meaning and creates lasting connections between the place and the people who intersect it.

Few places are as rich in inherent storytelling potential as the airport. Think of what happens each day in any given airport…. The airport is the beginning or the end of a great journey. It’s a place where people begin their dream vacations. They go to meet a stranger. They embark on a new business enterprise. They go to war. They come back home. They start a new life. They reunite with loved ones.

It’s these aspects of air travel—the humanity, not the technology—that are the focus of our efforts when designing airport environments. 

We’re not the first generation to feel the thrill and seduction of emerging technology. 

At the beginning of the last century, people marveled at the prospect of being shuttled over thousands of miles of tracks to every corner of our country. America’s great train stations were an early step in the evolution of many of our country’s greatest cities. These places are rich expressions of the romance and humanity of travel. Scores of these train stations still stand and are lovingly cared for, diligently protected, and warmly regarded by their resident culture. These magnificent places have remained relevant even though the volume, velocity and technologies of travel have changed dramatically. They retain their relevance despite shifting technologies because, in the most important ways, travel is today as it has always been—a journey, at the end of which lies romance, a new enterprise, adventure, success or change. 

The majestic lobbies and grand public spaces of yesterday’s stations serve as heritage and inspiration for the polished terrazzo floors at JFK Terminal 4 in New York City and Miami Airport’s South Concourse. 

Terrazzo has been in use as a flooring material for hundreds of years. In America and abroad, the durability of terrazzo is best evidenced by the number of historic terrazzo floors that remain in excellent condition in some of the world’s most highly trafficked public spaces. For airports, the smoothness of the finished terrazzo surface is ideal for ease of maintenance as well as for the thousands of luggage wheels that may be rolling through a concourse at any given time. The flexibility of terrazzo as a design medium allows for highly expressive graphic patterning. By varying matrix colors as well as aggregate size, colors and materiality, terrazzo supports a rich palette of colors and visual textures. From design to durability, terrazzo is a material that is well suited for the unique demands of airport environments.

Today, most terrazzo installed is epoxy terrazzo. Epoxy terrazzo has many attributes that make it advantageous for use in airport environments. First, it’s quick curing, thinner and lighter weight than cement based terrazzo. This makes for faster project turnaround and enhances its suitability for multistory use. Also, it doesn’t shrink, which reduces cracking and allows for the installation of larger monolithic sections. It is extremely durable and nonporous and doesn’t support the growth of mildew, mold or bacteria. It’s also available in a wider variety of colors than cement based terrazzo.

It wasn’t so long ago that airports and the passengers wealthy enough to use them were seen as terribly glamorous. Today, particularly post 9/11, air travel is often a stress-filled experience. Unpredictable security lines, changing regulations, larger airports, longer wait times at the gate, more crowded aircraft and fewer in-flight amenities make air travel increasingly challenging. As traveler anxiety grows, the value of places within airports that offer respite from the fray increases as well. 

Miami’s new South Terminal responds with seductive spaces in which passengers can take a moment to breathe, sip a cup of coffee and take in the latest news or fashion magazine before continuing to their destination. The terminal’s terrazzo floor was designed to be an integral part of the greater effort to create a social, relaxed and thoroughly comfortable space. The soft colors and rhythmic curved forms calm the space and reflect Miami’s unique blend of romance, glamour and sophistication. The subtle, abstracted palm frond pattern suggests the shadows cast on white sands by the trees above. As the largest contiguous canvas for the expression of the overall design, the terrazzo floor with its subtle gradients of values works with the lighting to create an environment that is spa-like, airy, and fashionable.

Far from the palms and mojitos of Miami is Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport in New York City. At JFK, our charge was to create an environment that would impart a sense of the qualities that define New York City. In accessing the essential elements of New York City, we drew our inspiration from the experience of walking down the sidewalks of New York. The city’s streetscape is legendary. Strolling the sidewalks is a collage of changing vistas and new offerings for the senses.

From grand stairs, to urban vitrines, to world class shopping, to pocket parks, CommArts made use of devices and components not usually seen in the world of airport terminals. The geometric Art Deco inspired patterns in the terrazzo floor are appropriate to the heritage of New York and the heyday of the material. 

In an attempt to reinforce and clarify wayfinding, the floor field color is shifted in the center of the terminal about the Grand Stair so that half the concourse floor is predominately warm and the other half cool. Given the ability of visitors to look down on the concourse as they make their arrival on the Grand Stair, this color play helps with the subliminal understanding of how the space is arranged. The balance of urban complexity and fundamental clarity in Terminal 4 serves to create an environment that is experientially rich, appropriate to its context, and successful in its fundamental responsibility of guiding travelers to their gates in an expeditious fashion. 

Whether the goal is to channel the energy of a New York streetscape or reflect the breezy romance of an afternoon in Miami, the real hope is to create an overall travel experience that is memorable not simply for its efficiency, but for its emotional connection to the city and people that it serves. When a journey ends, what remains is the story. The quality of the story will ultimately make the difference between a treasured experience and one that is soon forgotten. 

Copyright 2008 Floor Focus