ARCHITECTS AND AIRPORT DESIGN

During the summer of 1928, D. R. Lane, a staffer for the new trade publication Airports, made an extensive survey of airports between San Francisco and Chicago. In an article about the trip, he wrote: “On this journey only three airports were seen at which there were real provisions for passengers to wait in comfort for the arrival of planes. These were the ports of San Francisco, Oakland and Detroit (Ford Airport) where there are comfortable waiting rooms in the administration buildings.”41 Of the three, Lane asserted that the terminal building at the Ford Airport was “probably the best airplane passenger station yet built in America.”42 That assessment was often repeated during the next couple of years including in Domestic Air News, the Aeronautics Branch’s bi-monthly publication which published an article that stated unequivocally: “The Ford Airport at Dearborn is one of the few real airports worthy of the name at present in operation in this country.”43

The Ford Terminal, which opened in November 1927, was a two story square white brick building with Spanish tile roof. Almost the entire 2,700 square feet of the first floor was given over to a passenger waiting room. The second floor, which was smaller than the first, housed the offices of Ford Air Transport Service and Stout Air Service. The most admired feature of the building was its wrap­around balcony from which visitors could watch all the action on the field. Pictures and various reports suggest that the passenger space was considered very comfortable with armchairs, tables, and separate lavatories for men and women. Lane made a special effort to point out this last feature, noting that it was “embarrassing to a woman passenger to be required to pass through a hangar where mechanics are at work.”44

There are two things which are historically important about the Ford Airport Terminal building. First, was the fact that it won rave reviews throughout the industry.45 Second, was that the building was designed by an architect. Henry Ford’s main concern was that his airport always be thought of as the best airport. The new business of carrying passengers did not automatically require the construction of a terminal; prior to the 1930s, most passengers simply walked from the airplane into the hanger or administrative offices. Ford Airport did not have even these facilities; it abutted two factory buildings. In fact, when the airport was first opened, passenger-carrying and exhibition flights required special advanced permission. The addition of regular passenger service to the mail service originating from Ford Airport changed this. Henry Ford encouraged those running day-to-day operations at the airport to stay abreast of new developments.46

Supplying a special building for passengers was one of those “new things” that needed to be provided for. However, Ford did not turn to an engineer to design the facility. Nor did he consult with the many ex-Army pilots in his employ. He turned to an architect. Henry Ford was not the first to employ an architect to design an airport building. However, the extremely high profile of the Ford Airport meant that developments taking place in Dearborn were viewed as bellwethers by the aviation community.47

In April 1928, two editorials about airports and architecture appeared – one in Scientific American and the other in the debut issue of Airports. The Airports editorial argued eloquently that “Aviation has found its niche in the activities of man. The airport is a potent factor in aviation’s success. A definite program of design and construction must be followed if we are to build our airports for posterity.”48 Alexander Klemin, writing his debut column on new development in aviation for Scientific American, stated: “We are apt to think of an airport as a large landing field with a group of ugly looking hangars at one end, a runway or two and a system of lighting.”49 Both pieces concluded with a call for an international architectural competition. However, while Klemin (who was greatly impressed by the results of two such competitions in England and Germany) thought this was a great solution to encourage American architects to become interested in airport design, the editors of Airports were more timid in advancing their idea. “There must be many Chambers of Commerce, municipal authorities and private individuals,” they wrote, “who will look with favor upon a plan of this kind. Others may deem it premature, destructive and incongruous.” The final question the editors posed to readers was: “Should it [employing architects to design airports] be encouraged?”50

Architects, no less affected than other Americans by the Lindbergh frenzy, seemed to need little encouragement. In May 1929, Architectural Record published “Airport Design and Construction,” a lengthy feature article by Robert L. Davison.51 Davison’s purpose was to summarize the state-of-the-art as well as to suggest the fundamental principles which would govern an architectural approach to the problem of airport design. While he believed that the flying field was still the province of the engineer, Davison claimed the buildings for the architect. Thus, Davison’s article was largely a primer in aeronautics – incorporating the Department of Commerce airport rating requirements, specifications of airplanes, design information about existing airports, and so forth. And even though the basic facts about aviation and airports constituted nothing new, Davison’s piece was unlike anything ever produced by airport engineers.

One key difference between the architectural and engineering approach to airport development was centered in the design process. Both architects and engineers found it necessary to make assumptions. Among practicing airport engineers, however, assumptions often remained unstated. For example, both architects and engineers discuss the problem of selecting a good site for an airport. Both give extensive descriptions of various features which must be considered before picking a site. Yet almost all of the articles written by engineers are seemingly diffuse. Gavin Hadden wrote that: “It is impossible to describe an exact set of conditions which will govern every airport design. The natural conditions alone – geographical, topographical, meteorological – present widely differing influences on specific problems and if to these are added the manmade conditions, which affect every site and its requirements, and which will further affect present requirements and future predictions, the variations may be multiplied many times.”52

Davison, by contrast, presented a short, succinct listing of requirements – for the flyer and the public. Each item on the list was assigned a point value. To pick a site, one simply checked each item on the list, assigned a value (up to the maximum assigned to that item) and then tallied up the total points. For example, “freedom from dense river fogs” was equal to an “8” so a value might range from “0” (always fogged in) to “8” (never subject to fogs). On the surface, Davison’s table may seem the more rigorously analytical of the two. Yet, the procedural difference between Hadden and Davison was actually a function of priority. Site selection was one of the most important problems of the entire design process for engineers, but far less so for architects. This was because airport engineers were almost exclusively preoccupied with the problems of safe take-offs and landing. Architects were focused on the new problem of transfer – the shifting of passengers and cargo from one mode of transportation to another.53