Budget issues matter little to the end user, often a harried traveler who sees getting through an airport as a necessary hassle.
As Pat Askew, of Perkins + Will, said at the recent symposium, passengers want to get in and out of airports as quickly as possible, but "you can get stranded at the airport, and then it becomes important" to make it a place that people can enjoy.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport makes itself attractive to travelers with art exhibits around the terminal and concourses, such as the collection of stone sculptures from Zimbabwe in the lower-level walkway between the T concourse and Concourse A.
"We're looking at creating a sense of place, using some art to do that," Hartsfield-Jackson assistant general manager Dan Molloy said. It can "maybe help the passenger relax -- give them a distraction they can focus on, if you will, while they wait."
The Atlanta airport plans $5 million worth of art for the international terminal, including a large-scale project of "functional art" -- a 1,000-foot wall of glass panels laminated with patterns of tree bark along the tunnel between Concourse E and the international terminal. Its function will be to divide passengers who have been cleared by U.S. authorities from those who haven't.
One of the key benefits of the international terminal will be allowing arriving passengers to avoid rechecking bags before leaving the airport, as they now must do in order to get baggage to the main terminal.
Functional art allows the airport to get multiple benefits out of the requirement in the public art master plan that to set aside 1 percent of certain monies including airport construction funds for art.
"It is a factor that we do consider," Molloy said. "If we didn't put this piece of artwork in, we would have to do something else for a wall."
No comments:
Post a Comment