Business Travel Awards 2016: Best Terminal Design Three bizarre concepts for high-flying airport design, explained.
This story appears in the May 2016 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
These interesting airport designs might have you wanting to leave for your flight extra-early. Check out these innovative ideas from around the world.
Instead of walkways, Tokyo's Narita International Airport has running lanes. The playful blue-and-red track design is an early nod to the 2020 Olympic Games, which Tokyo will host. The redesign budget couldn't cover moving sidewalks, so these rubber lanes instill a sense of urgency -- while making Narita easy to navigate.
Airport terminals often feel antiseptic. Not Pulkovo Airport, in St. Petersburg, Russia: The new terminal has a gold tessellated ceiling that's vaulted to feel more like a canopy than a rigid enclosure. It's an ode to the angular geometry of Soviet stars and the city's gilded church roofs.
Pacific North-westerners loved the old carpet at Portland International Airport. The 1980s-era design appeared on T-shirts, coffee mugs, beer labels -- it was even a popular tattoo. Last year, wear and tear forced PDX to replace the iconic carpet, but the new design is a riff on the old.
