Just a reflection on the blog concerning the world's ten best airports ...
After WWII, when commercial air travel grew and flying somewhere was an adventure, some airports were designed to reflect "the excitement of flying." The two that come most to mind were both designed by Eero Saarninen, The TWA terminal at NY's Kennedy airport, and Washington's Dulles airport. It was the space itself that was intended to evoke a "spirit of flight."
I find the new Washington National airport a kind of joke. Cesar Pelli created a vaulted ceiling "grand hall." However, when you enter, as most people have their boarding passes, 90% of the people simply head down the escalators, through the cumbersome security check stations, and into a jammed corridor that more evokes a feeling of an old crowded bus station than the "glamor of flight."
The amenities cited by the article are true enough - and really appreciated. The Amsterdam airport even has a "room by the hour" hotel, for people who get off "red eye" flights from the U.S. and have a four-hour wait for their next flight. But the "excitement of flying" - for me, at least, as I've flown a lot - is replaced by the "agony of flying" that has to be endured to get to some truly exciting place I want to visit.
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