Futuristic Airports Unhindered With the Baggage of Today’s Reality

Futuristic Airports Unhindered With the Baggage of Today’s Reality:

Photo: Fentress Architects

The fundamental design of an airport hasn’t changed a whole lot since commercial aviation took off after World War II. But much of the reason is that the fundamental design of commercial airplanes hasn’t changed much either. So when a Denver architecture firm held a design contest for the airport of the future, they wanted students to imagine an airport based on whatever kind of aircraft they could imagine. They didn’t want to limit the designs to the airplanes we fly in today (or for the foreseeable future based on the winning entries).
With current realities set aside, more than 200 entries were submitted. Designs were evaluated on creative approach, response to site, sustainability and functionality according to Fentress Architects, the company behind the competition.
First place was awarded to Oliver Andrew, a student at London South Bank University. Andrew’s winning concept includes prefabricated triangular islands that would be placed in the River Thames near London.
The modular design allows for varying size airports built on concrete islands that can be anchored just about anywhere there is water, assuming the local residents don’t put up a fight. Andrew’s airport would be served entirely by public transportation with no ticketing or check in desks since everybody would be directed to their aircraft by tickets on their phones.
At this point the concept sounds feasible. Airports are already being built on man-made islands, with public transportation being common for many hubs. Even cell phone ticketing and check-in is in wide spread use.
But one glance at the triangular island airports raises the question of where are the runways? This is where Andrew’s imaginative vision kicks in. Without relying on the current airplanes that require more than a mile of straight concrete to take off and land, he decided to base his design on “vertical takeoff with hypersonic jets capable of flying at the edge of space.”
Andrew was praised by the judges for his incorporation of public transportation in the design as well as the floating islands that would reduce the land based footprint of the airport. There is however a bit of a chicken and egg problem here since by the time vertical takeoff, hypersonic aircraft are flying us to our next vacation, perhaps traditional cars and personal transportation won’t be so much of an issue since we’ll all be moving around via robotic quadcopters.

LAX of the future includes airships and nearby algae farms to grow fuel stock. Photo: Fentress Architects

Second place went to another London student who redesigned Los Angeles International Airport to include nearby algae farms as a fuel source and added a somewhat retro touch by incorporating airships as a quiet, though rather slow way to move people.
Vertical takeoff capabilities was also a driving force for the third place entry. The California student imagines converting the tops of skyscrapers into “pocket airports.” The judges liked the idea of using existing infrastructure, the tall buildings referring to the times when airships would moor themselves to skyscrapers during the early days of air travel.

Rooftop pocket airports to service hypersonic electric aircraft. Photo: Fentress Architects

But this pocket airport design would rely bring together several aspects of aerospace dreaming. The designer imagines his airports being served by all electric powered, hypersonic sub-orbital aircraft with the convenience of vertical takeoff and landing to slip into the open garage-like gates atop a building. The sketch above shows some very Scaled Composites looking air-spacecraft, a great place to crib some imaginative concepts.
The good news is the winning entries did generate many inspired ideas without being limited to current technologies which was one of the main goals of the contest. Fentress Architects specializes in airport design and plans on using the entries as part of an art exhibit that will travel the world.