ABSTRACT
The vast complexity of passenger terminals, with their great intermodal transport connections and electronic communication webs, provides a possible model for life in the twenty-first century. Some argue that the single sublime object, represented for example by Sondica Airport, mirrors the model for the cultural, human and commercial richness of contemporary life. Others contend that a more functional terminal, which is able to accept the messy, noisy, competitive world and still provide a building that is pleasant to use, serves management and passenger needs more effectively. The obvious precedents for the former are the medieval cloth walls of Northern Europe and of the latter, the railway terminals of the nineteenth century. Both functioned as heroic places of financial or transport exchange, but they were also centres for social interchange, for gossip and meeting unrelated to trade or movement. The halls, exchanges and stations were
magnificent urban landmarks – some based upon circular or elliptical shapes – with internal malls for trade or refreshment set apart from public gathering spaces. Interior galleries and lofty rooflit halls provided a dramatic and imposing backcloth for both commerce and town life.
