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QUERIES:
Application for the 2005 Cohos-Evamy Scholarship in Honour of Michael Evamy
[Unsuccessful application]

Flight <-> Connection <-> City

What is the purpose of an airport? Is it to serve the residents of the city in which it is located, or rather to serve the passengers connecting through the airport?

Further, at what point has one "arrived" at a destination: when the airplane touches down, or when the taxi arrives downtown, or somewhere in between? Is the airport the gateway to the city?

At what point can one claim to have visited a city? Is being in transit visiting a city?

What is the future of airports? How do architects see the future?

"The world's architects and planners are increasingly treating the airport not as a separate entity but as just another part of the urban condition. [...] The task now is to design effectively for the whole physical, environmental and emotional experience of the airport over a wide area." (Pearman, 2004)

The airport and the city: their levels of interdependence have fluctuated greatly over the past century. In one sense, the airport is a very urban project. In the past, a city's size frequently dictated the importance of its airport, and the growth of an airport was often tied to its host's growth. However, physically, the airport is commonly the antithesis to the city. The vast expanses of land required, the exhaustive pollution and the deafening noise of air traffic have all pushed the airport to a city's edge, and often far beyond its boundaries.

Yet what are the current trends in air transportation and airport design? And where does the idea of city fit into the current model?

With the massive expansion of Asian markets over the past few decades, air travel in the region has been steadily gaining ground. This growth has led to the construction of numerous new or expanded international airports over the past ten years. Indeed, the most recent wave of airport construction has been concentrated in Asia. Each country, and each city in many cases, has been jockeying for position as the main hub for Asian air transportation.

However, the goal of maximizing passenger numbers nuances the importance of the connection between the city and the airport. Indeed, such a focus raises numerous questions about the design, the urbanity and site specificity of the airport. These issues must be studied and addressed.

As such, the proposed research project would be an investigation of the role of the airport within its urban connection -- a study of the airport as a gateway to the city. This project will look at the idea of arrival, its architectural expression and its effect on users, namely arriving passengers. The research will question whether the airport is simply an invisible threshold one passes through to gain access to the city, or rather, if it truly marks the beginning and the end of the city.

This research project involves visiting a series of Asian airports in order to study the experience of arrival. The sense of place -- or placelessness -- will be important in assessing the architectural expression and consequences of the idea of arrival -- be it the sense of arrival at the airport or arrival in the city.

It is intended to complete the research by visiting the selected airports from the end of April through to the middle of the month of May 2005.

"One of the things holding back the intellectual development of the design professions is their lack of an explicit body of positive theory." (Lang, 1987)

Figure 1. Airport Programming (Adler, David [ed.]. "Metric Handbook: Planning and Design Data, Second Edition". Oxford: Architectural Press.).

Figure 2. Model of Normative Theory (Lang, 1987).

Figure 3. Model of Positive Theory (Lang, 1987).

Architectural researcher Jon Lang, one of my professors while attending the University of New South Wales, Sydney, emphasized the significance of being aware of the role of environmental experience in architectural theory. Whereas architectural education has focused on normative theory -- an examination of the designer's intentions through the study of aesthetic or compositional principles (see Figure 2) -- it is only one approach to architectural theory. Positive theory, on the other hand (see Figure 3), "encompasses our understanding of the natural and the built environments and their roles in people's lives" (Lang, 1987). It is a study of what possibilities the physical environment affords users.

The airport is one of the more experience-laden typologies of contemporary architecture. Consequently, the research basis of this proposal is highly experiential. It is designed to be a study of architecture that necessarily involves the researcher. The very nature of an airport requires its study both as an observer as well as a user.

This approach does not dwell on programming or utility to the exclusion of all other aspects of architecture. Formal and symbolic aesthetics have a significant impact on behavioural experience. Structure and building construction play an equally important role. It is the comprehensive experiential effect of the architecture that will be investigated.

The study of the use of an airport will not be a quantitative one. Indeed, statistics are readily available on the flow of traffic within and between airports, yet these issues are not architectural, despite their effects on the architecture of the airport. Nor is the study intended to be a utilitarian one. If one wanted to study the programming of an airport, it would be a repetitive study of variations of the same model: a study that could be completed with physically experiencing any of the airports (see Figure 1). Again, this aspect does have consequences on the architecture of the airport, but is not in the realm of architectural discourse.

However, the application of behavioural sciences to the built environment is rarely within the common scope of architectural discourse today. However, it is a body of knowledge that is essential to the design profession. This body of knowledge must complement normative theory in the design process.

It is intended that this research into the experiential nature of airports will guide and enrich the design process that I will be undertaking this coming fall, as I work on my design thesis project, as part of my professional Master of Architecture.

This study will involve some preliminary study of behavioural sciences and methods of observation. Further research into the design of each of the selected airports will also be necessary. However, the bulk of evaluation will be based on an experiential review of the eight airports selected, as indicated in the Project Schedule. The experience will be studied, from the approach to the airport, through the airport and up to the arrival in the city centre, and again from leaving the city to take-off.

The means of study will primarily be through observation. Sketching will play a vital role in the recording of these findings and experiences. Sketching will include both place making studies and experiential recording. Some of Kevin Lynch's ideas of image mapping will be used to study the spaces of an airport, as well as other methods professed by Jon Lang and Steen Eiler Rasmussen. Some photography will also be used to record hard data, but its use may be limited due to the secure nature of an airport.

Proposed Itinerary

The following airports have been selected as potential sites to visit. The choice of airports was based one or more of the following aspects: the scale of the airport (building size and traffic volumes), the size of the city served, the age of the airport and the project's architect. It is by no means an exhaustive list of significant Asian airports, but it is intended to adequately represent recent trends in airport development in the region.

It is proposed to travel to these airports, in the approximate order presented, from the end of April through to mid-May, 2005. A total of three weeks of travel would allow for a few days spent in each city and its surrounding areas, further investigating urban patterns, connections and spaces. The precise itinerary, as well as the actual number and choice of airports to be visited will depend on the level of support received, as well as the availability and cost of flights in the region.

Map of Asia, showing the proposed selection of airports.

Chek Lap Kok Airport (1998)
Hong Kong, China
Architect: Foster and Partners

Canton Baiyun Airport (2004)
Guangzhou, China
Architect: Parson, URS Corporation

Shanghai¨CPudong Airport (1999)
Shanghai, China
Architect: Paul Andreu/ADP

Beijing Capital International Airport (1999, 2004)
Beijing, China
Architect: Beijing Institute of Architecture and Design

Incheon International Airport (2001)
Seoul, South Korea
Architect: Fentress Bradburn

Kansai International Airport (1994)
Osaka, Japan
Architect: Renzo Piano, ADP, Noriaki Okabe

Changi International Airport, Terminal 3 (2003)
Singapore, Singapore
Architect: SOM

Kuala Lumpur Airport (1998)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Architect: Kisho Kurokawa Architect, Arkitek Jururancag

*Suvarnabhumi Airport (2005)
Bangkok, Thailand
Architect: Murphy/Jahn, TAMS, ACT

*Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3 (2007)
Beijing, China
Architect: Foster and Partners

* indicates an airport under development, which will not be ready in time for the proposed trip. Nevertheless, the projects will still be studied by means of a literature review and such findings will be included in the final report.

Project Budget

The amount being requested for project related expenses, $ 2918.00, represents the cost of airfare for travel between the listed airports, as well as the cost of some basic supplies, required to conduct the architectural research.

The airfares listed are based on the bestpriced student fares that are currently available for the proposed time period, and are priced in Canadian dollars. Airfare is subject to fluctuations in price and in the exchange rate.

With the intention of working in the Pacific region this summer, I would assume the cost of travel between Canada and Hong Kong, which would be the main hub for my travels to the aforementioned airports.

Additional funds have also been requested from the School of Architecture at McGill University. A similar traveling scholarship proposal, for up to $2000.00, has been submitted. These supplementary funds would cover general costs, namely accommodation, meals, and transportation. These additional costs have been indicated to show the overall scale of the entire project.

Should I receive this scholarship, I will complete my proposed project within the limits of the budget available for related expenses, regardless of the decision on any outside funding.

Selected Readings

Lang, Jon. (1987). Creating Architectural Theory: The Role of the Behavioral Sciences in Environmental Design. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Lynch, Kevin. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Pearman, Hugh. (2004). Airports: A Century of Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers.

Rasmussen, Steen Eiler. (1959). Experiencing Architecture. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.