This is one of my favorite airline terminals anywhere. Originally designed by Helmut Jahn in the mid-1980s as United's chief hub and to evoke the great Victorian-era railroad trainsheds of yore, it celebrates travel. It's highlighted by the wonderful light sculpture, 'The Sky's the Limit,' that has been beguiling travelers in the tunnel between Concourse B and C for more than 20 years now. Amazing that a for-profit company could invest in building a structure as ambitious and inspiring as this -- something possible when the legacy airlines were still flush, which is no longer the case.
And yes, not even two decades of creeping-crud commercialism (afterthought retail kiosks that block the views, massive banners and video displays hanging from the ceiling, and multiple changing airline logo schemes) have diluted the excitement and energy of Terminal One. Like Grand Central Station in New York when it was buried under billboards and grime, it remains a great space.A detailed inventory of its state was posted by me in October, 2010. A half-year later, the big news is that United has a new color scheme (blue, yellow, and white, thanks to its merger with Continental) and there has actually been some action taken to keep Terminal One from completely suffocating from commercial add-ons.
True, the kiosks are still everywhere, with businesses such as 'NUTS on CLARK' or phone/Internet clusters blocking the vistas of planes parked right up against the glass. But I noticed a fewer banners hanging from the ceilings, which opened up the interior viewscapes a little, and some of the most egregious logo-placement (such as on the escalator railings!) has been taken down.Regarding the new colors and revised "globe" logo, they've been applied everywhere. Not a tulip (the company's long-standing 1970s-era logo) to be seen, except out on the tarmac, on planes one or two paint schemes behind. The only place yellow shows up big-time, though, is in the Terminal B check-in area; for the most part, it's not a noticeable difference. One thing, however, is that the terminal's original design called for red accents in places such as the tile borders or those hard-to-read gate signs, and they're still in place. So it creates a little visual discord, since red has been banished. Same with the pinstripe frosted glass. Let's hope they just leave it alone.
I'm not sure this is the case, but it seemed that gate areas had fewer TVs blaring the CNN airport channel at full volume, which is a major improvement. But one thing I can't understand is why the terminal's gray light-control shades get lowered on the non-sun sides of the building. In the B concourse on Tuesday afternoon, this unnecessarily blocked all the airside views, as if people couldn't possibly be interested in what's going on out beyond the glass. (See the picture for a sample of what you're missing.) Maybe some don't care, but no wonder few people get excited about flying anymore.Also, viewed from the outside, the whole B concourse seems desperately in need of a good washing. Maybe more than that, because last I heard it sometimes rains in Chicago.
And how about the chairs these guys are sitting on? Want to use the phone? Tough luck. Plus, payphones are clearly just for losers anyway, right?
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