Indoor parks, $2b renovations: America’s airport glow-up

For many years, going to the airport in the United States has meant trudging through dark and low-ceilinged terminals, crowding in dreary security checkpoints and throwing elbows to secure one of the few power outlets at the gate. “A bus depot is not a great way to describe it, but that’s kind of the methodology that a lot of American passengers saw,” said Ty Osbaugh, an architect who helps lead the aviation practice at the architecture firm Gensler. Airports built in the 20th century were largely designed to get customers in, out and through as quickly as possible. They didn’t account for the high volume of passengers we see today or the logistical demands the age of Homeland Security would create. According to the trade group Airports Council International-North America, the average airport terminal in the United States is more than 40 years old. That’s not the case overseas, where some of the world’s grandest airports are designed for passengers to actually enjoy their experience. In Singapore’s Changi Airport, for example, a towering indoor waterfall, forested walking trails and a glass-bottom bridge compete for travelers’ attention. It’s given many Americans “terminal envy,” Osbaugh said. Now, US airports are catching on with a wave of modernization projects. With the urgency higher than ever — U.S. airports are in need of $115b in improvements, according to a 2021 survey by the airport trade association — and an injection of funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law, there’s new money and momentum for version “2.0 of airport design,” Osbaugh said.<br/>