Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, CA
It’s about a journey through time and space, spatial transit to the city and future.
This thesis project explores the potential of the LAX as a transit point in time and space during the 2028 Olympic games. It proposes an Olympic Park which connects existing and new terminals - this park allows events from multiple timelines and personal trajectories to generate a dynamic experience for its users. The design not only provides a better experience during travel the airport but allows its users to contemplate more advanced notions of time and space, history, and geography.
3 Theories:
Chronoflow from David Harvey, which means start from timeline, its cloud be diachronic timeline or the synchronic timeline, all the things happening at the same time.
Linkage from Bernard Tschumi, is about the event of space, different events happened, and they can be linked to each other in the space, has the common things.
Memory from Christopher Alexander, it means different characters, like Olympic athletes, tourists, airport staff or the residents, how they interact to each other in the space and what they experience or how they feel about the space.
The conceptual idea drawing which include the precedent Vasconcelos library idea combine into the thesis project. Through this drawing to translate what I think and what I hope people can be experienced in the airport. As you can see the inside of the terminal, the different layer of each floor and use stairs to connect them. The floating doors like the time travel gate, by airplane to travel to different places and the world, and the universe. The extend tree roots like the core idea of the timecraft to spread to the entire space in the Olympic Park.
The concept of terminal 9 is about not only an airport, but the terminal 9 also could be a shopping mall, a restaurant, a library, a museum, and an Olympic Park. All these activities that are common happened outside of the airport will all be happened into the terminal 9 at the same time through the different timeline. The visitors will have variety experience about this terminal.
The concept of Olympic Park is mainly come from the Olympic symbol 5 rings, each rings represent the impression of LA, the geography, entertainment, western, diversity and freedom. Then extract each element from those impression to build different program: the garden, tunnel, 5 sense bubble, gallery, and graffiti board. All the Olympic Park path became an exterior loop and interior loop that connect all the terminals in LAX.
The main concept for the Olympic Park is about loop experience that is people begin from one point, travel to another point, but the loop will bring them back to the original point or transfer to another point, all the looping process will make people have different feeling and experience in the terminal. And the Olympic Park mainly happed in the departure level which represents people will have unique experiences before they left LA.
The design idea came from 2028 LA Olympic logo, extract the element and spread line as an infinity timeline. Continue with the loop design idea same as Olympic Park. Connecting inside and outside the loop. Then open atrium, extend timeline from one direction, reverse timeline from another direction, and add bridge. Each level has different experience and eventually become terminal 9.
The terminal 9 has 5 floors and 3 levels for the basement. The first level is arrival, second level is ticketing and security, the third level is about departure and contain Olympic Park. The fourth level is travelers’ lounge to provide people with better rest lounge area and part of working space. The fifth level is Olympic theme park, not only like a park park, but also is a place to spread and share the Olympic culture with all the world.
The circulation path through the elevator and stairs in each level provide diverse experiences of the interior. And with the giant atrium in the middle of the terminal.
The Olympic Park is on the departure level, but is not the same level of the departure entrance. I’s about 10’ higher, hence people need to use stairs and elevator to go up. And when people are getting the departure entrance, they need to go downstairs to the level 2 to get security check-in before they can get into the departure level.
And the red part is the area for transit from basement and level 1 to level 3 only without security check. And the blue part is security and ticketing check-in area.
The façade design of terminal 9 using the same element of timeline. Begin with a single timeline into multiple timelines when those timelines intersection each other to become an infinity timeline. I want visitors to feel the infinity extend time from the exterior of the terminal as well.
In the end, I would like to say the most interesting about time and space in my thesis project is about how people can get diverse experiences in a common space and with different timeline to feel different. Just like all the synchronic timeline happened at the same time, with each events happening, seems like all the activities are so different, but they are all linked to each other in the same space that create their unique experiences.
Thank you for traveling with me, I hope you all enjoy this time and space journey.
