Jumbo Architecture

Abstract

Airport design in the 1960s and 1970s reflected the exponential changes in scale and experience brought about by the 747 and other “jumbo” aircraft.  New requirements for passenger loading, accommodation, and circulation meant that the “airy prettiness” that had defined terminal buildings, cabin environments, and airport landscapes in the 1950s were subsumed by less humane and more disconcerting environments and systems that produced often noxious sensory environments.  The sublime scale of the new hardware and its surrounding operations marked a sudden shift in sensibilities, economies, and passenger experience that remains symptomatic of air travel today.