Beijing Airport

The Beijing airport was covered with a thin layer of snow on the morning of 3 Dec. On the distance tarmac, a long, curved roof was under construction. We had to walk onto the tarmac to board our bus to the Air China plane, and I snapped away, only to be told off by the guard. My client said only a few years ago, I would've faced more severe penalties. Yes, but I told him that that shape out there is Norman Foster's new aiport taking form. And I had to record it! Below are 2 of Foster's competition-winning images of the airport, Beijing's Terminal 3, that has to be finished by 2007 to cope with the following summer's Olympics. It will have steel trusses painted blood red, and ceiling painted in orange. He said it was like a dragon rising, I think. But it'll look an awful lot like Hong Kong's airport, another one of his design, reharshed with colours. Some have praised that (mainly architects), but many of my friends (mainly tennis kakis) find it bland and unimaginative. My friends prefer KL's International Airport. Personally, I don't mind either but I rate Foster's airport planning far more efficient than Kurokawa's KLIA. And in an aiport, efficiency is pretty much just about everything. The Chinese have chosen well. Beijing's T3 will be quite a sensation when completed. Chup.