Re: [in-enaction] Airworld: Cons want to preserve glass facade by turning it into key chains (!)

Architexturez. wrote:
> > ....
> >
> > When you stand there, the airport peeking out from behind the overpass 
> > suddenly seems an optimistic symbol. It makes as much sense--and 
> > probably more--for the people of Detroit to orbit a new global portal 
> > as it does for them to cling to some frayed and decrepit version of 
> > Jane Jacobs's ideal. It's an opportunity for the city to start fresh, 
> > to recast itself in our networked economy's own image. It's a chance 
> > that Detroit, of all places, can ill afford to miss. The rest of us 
> > had better take good notes.
>
> The ‘status’ that flying has had over the course of the years becomes 
> clear in the presentation. In the early days attention was primarily 
> focused on improvements in the technological aspects of aeroplanes, and 
> the interior had a subordinate role. As time passed air travel 
> increasingly came to be dominated by the idea of luxury. Presently the 
> aeroplane is a popular means of transport and, in part because of the 
> prices offered by many low-cost airlines, it draws a much wider segment 
> of the population.

| while Old Europe celebrates the culture of speed!
| the New World will demolish an icon, and sell it for
| Key-Chains!

When American Airlines Terminal 8 opened in 1960 at what was then New 
York International Airport at Idlewild, its most striking feature was 
the great stained-glass facade. The structure, made of red, sapphire and 
white glass tiles, wasn’t just public art; it also allowed light into 
the terminal, while keeping those inside from broiling in the 
south-facing building.
....
Recently, some American Airlines employees at Terminal 8 weighed in on 
the mural’s fate. “I assumed they would be saving the window,” said John 
Corrado, a pilot with the airline for 28 years. “It is part of the New 
York landscape.”

The plan to turn shards of glass into key chains seems “tacky,” he added.

“They should preserve it,” said Craig Kozan, a supervisor, who said the 
artwork reminded him of a calmer time in air travel.

But John Farrell, another pilot, said: “In this age, you can’t afford 
too much sentimentality. There are razor-thin margins in this business, 
and I don’t think anybody ever buys a ticket because American Airlines 
has a very nice stained window. ”

cont'd....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/nyregion/thecity/23glas.html