The first of four major art projects for the new single terminal airport at KCI have been revealed.
More than 1,000 artists from around the world submitted inquiries after Kansas City announced an international search for artists.
The city said the four works of art were chosen because they either reflected the wonder of travel or Kansas City history.
The budget for artwork at KCI’s new terminal is $5.65 million. Kansas City’s single-terminal airport is expected to open on budget and on time in early 2023.
“The fact that we’ve been through a pandemic over the last year and yet this project remains on time, on schedule, and on budget is a testament to the good work of the team,” said Justin Meyer with the KC Aviation Department.
You can see the renderings of the art projects in the gallery below.
Entitled "Molten Swing"
Entitled "The Air up There"
Entitled "Ornithology"
Entitled "Fountain of Resonance"
"Molten Swing" looks kind of like a mosaic dog or cat to me, it might look cool though but not sure what to make of it at this point.
"The Air up There" simply looks like some lights on the ceiling, again it might look better when you're actually there I hope.
"Ornithology" reminds me of those attacking creatures in the Pitch Black movie. You just knew one of the artwork they chose would have a WTF moment and this is it.
"Fountain of Resonance" I approve of this one. :-)
Originally Posted by |Zach|:
Don't worry we are going to drag you people to the modern day we promise.
I was waiting for a ride hailing ride at midnight.
So I'm not sure what that has to do with dragging me into the modern day.
It wasn't backed up, but it certainly felt congested and this was nominally paid drivers and shuttle bus drivers. These weren't the lanes for non commercial operation. But I could certainly believe it being a cluster mess say at 5 pm. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Spott:
Most of the airports seem to be that way. I assume the reason that the arrivals always get backed up is because people just wait out in front of the gates instead of the cell lots or some other area nearby. If the security runs them off, they probably circle back around and get right back in the same line.
I can’t speak for the new airport, but I would guess it may be a problem due to inconsiderate people more than the way the place was designed.
"are you trying to tell me that at other airports uncle bob can't just sit in front of the gate for 45 mins without moving waiting for someone to walk out?" [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Pagan:
So do people not do that at other airports?
Is there a practical way to prevent it?
They probably do it all airports. Maybe they could make bigger cell lots and increase enforcement so people aren’t just camped out front of arrivals waiting for their rides to get their baggage. It’s probably an uphill battle for airport security to have to spend all day and night running people out only to have them circle right back around.
That being said, I’m almost always in the Uber/Lyft ride within 5-10 minutes of getting off the plane when I get picked up in departures. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Pagan:
So I don't fly into a lot of airports.
But the old KC terminals was nicer when your ride could be waiting for you and you didn't have to call it from a cell phone parking lot.
If other airports have a shitty design, I don't see why a brand new one shouldn't learn lessons instead of also be shitty from the very go if there are better options.
If you are picking people up at the departure area to avoid congestion, it is a shitty design. Full stop.
Similarly, I can understand that old airports may not have space for security. But terminals built post security concerns, should have more space.
For instance, there should be more space to put your stuff into the trays. The Sacramento terminal which is relatively newish, has too little space even though it was built from scratch.
And then too few benches to put your shoes back on.
Cell phone lots are a great invention. You just pull in there and play on your phone until you get a call. It's easy to then go get someone.
Our airport at Denver has gone even better. There are fast-food restaurants at the cell phone lot. So you can get there early and have some food. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Pagan:
So I don't fly into a lot of airports.
But the old KC terminals was nicer when your ride could be waiting for you and you didn't have to call it from a cell phone parking lot.
If other airports have a shitty design, I don't see why a brand new one shouldn't learn lessons instead of also be shitty from the very go if there are better options.
If you are picking people up at the departure area to avoid congestion, it is a shitty design. Full stop.
Similarly, I can understand that old airports may not have space for security. But terminals built post security concerns, should have more space.
For instance, there should be more space to put your stuff into the trays. The Sacramento terminal which is relatively newish, has too little space even though it was built from scratch.
And then too few benches to put your shoes back on.
I believe the security piece of it is back from the OKC bombing and 9/11 sorts of things and not wanting people parked outside federal buildings and so forth, and it carried over to airport security.
The old KCI just never fully got on board and really enforced it.
It is a people problem at all airports. Sky Harbor in Phoenix is pretty efficient given there's like 4 lanes and a pretty long corridor,.. but then people still try to cram into one lane and get pissy if you're stopped for a few seconds, etc.
San Diego is one that's a great example of people being idiots... it's frequently backed up because everyone stops at the beginning of the terminal instead of using the full length of the terminal, and block lanes and so forth... plus it's probably too small of an airport for the traffic.
Most have the same issues because of lack of education and people are idiots... just like recycle bins, it's why we can't have nice things.
(and that's separate from any of the true issues of the new KCI... I havent been there yet to know if I'd call it crappy design). [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
I believe the security piece of it is back from the OKC bombing and 9/11 sorts of things and not wanting people parked outside federal buildings and so forth, and it carried over to airport security.
The old KCI just never fully got on board and really enforced it.
It is a people problem at all airports. Sky Harbor in Phoenix is pretty efficient given there's like 4 lanes and a pretty long corridor,.. but then people still try to cram into one lane and get pissy if you're stopped for a few seconds, etc.
San Diego is one that's a great example of people being idiots... it's frequently backed up because everyone stops at the beginning of the terminal instead of using the full length of the terminal, and block lanes and so forth... plus it's probably too small of an airport for the traffic.
Most have the same issues because of lack of education and people are idiots... just like recycle bins, it's why we can't have nice things.
(and that's separate from any of the true issues of the new KCI... I havent been there yet to know if I'd call it crappy design).
So the issue appears to me that it is a relatively short corridor for the number of gates that the airport has. Given the terminal was built from scratch, it seems like they could/should have made the corridor longer and/or had more lanes.
Yes, we can all hope and pray that one day we all become perfect little automations that get dragged kicking and screaming into the 21 century.
But until that time, it seems like it would have been worth it to set aside more space for pickup.
I'm not really seeing what the downside would have been to have had a few more lanes and a longer corridor. Although I obviously don't know all the space constraints they were working against.
It has been a few years, but the amount of space and the way that the Vegas Airport does for taxis seems pretty efficient. [Reply]
