The last thing I expected the first time I arrived in Paris was to find myself on the set of a Barbarella meets Logan's Run trashy science fiction movie set. Yet, upon landing, I wandered slightly dazed into a post-apocalyptic nouveau technologic aero-transport hub that belongs in a galaxy far, far away.
This week, I traveled to Stockholm for work and I as passed through the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was able to put my finger on what disturbed me the first time: There is something vaguely reproductive about the design of the airport.
Despite the lack of bright colors, the curves, portals and chambers of the terminal building remind me of biology class and the complicated wet works that make it possible to pass genes from one generation to the next.
Because most of the materials used are colorless concrete, stainless steel and stucco, being inside the building is like being inside a giant egg.
The most striking feature is the central hub of terminal 1. A series of covered moving walkways carry passengers from floor to floor through the central circular atrium. Transparent plastic tubing covers the walkways and seals them in. While these tubes should evoke fiber optics or something purely technical, their girth and apparent mass are more similar to tree trunks, arteries or ducts. Enhancing the disturbing feeling of passing through an organism are the portals that function like a heart valve to pump blood through the heart.
This is not at all meant to be a metaphor about being born-again entering (or exiting) France. It's more to highlight what a crazy place this is, and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface. More to come...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment