Hyperpolis – The Airport as the Marketplace of the Information Society

The Detached Terminal – There is no absolute reason why the passenger operations of the landside concourse need to be sited right next to the airside concourse. By dissecting and reassembling the anatomy of the airport we want to redefine its socio-spatial role within the context of the urban system. Contrary to actual trends we do not plan to take the city to the airport, but the airport to the city. Open to the public, the airport becomes a constitutive element of the global city.

An Extra-territorial Habitat for Hyperpolitan life – What if the airport terminal was blown up to such an extent, that you could imagine living and working there? A free-trade zone detached from national economies; an extra-territorial network of spaces interconnected by airways; a home for hyperpolitan life; The detached Terminals in the various cities become a continuous envelope of International Space.

Institution: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Year: 2006
Location: London, United Kingdom
Program: Airport
Status: Proposal
Design Team: Martin Henn, Max Schwitalla