Main Terminal, Washington Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia
Opened in 1962, Washington Dulles International Airport was constructed to provide additional commercial air transportation capacity to the Washington, DC region, and was planned by Civil Engineering firm Ammann and Whitney. The most notable structure in the airport complex is the Main Terminal, a Modern structure designed by Eero Saarinen, which features a catenary curve concrete roof suspended from columns on either side that lean outwards to counterbalance the structural forces of the roof, with the landside columns of the terminal being higher than the airside columns. At the center of the terminal is a distinctive control tower with a concavely curved concrete base, with multiple tiers of control rooms above featuring windows that taper towards the bottom and a large antenna atop the roof. The main terminal was extended to either side in 1996, matching the original design and doubling the size of the main hall of the terminal. The airport is notable for its use of approximately 50 mobile lounges, large multi-passenger vehicles, which shuttle airline passengers and crew between the main terminal and airplanes parked on the tarmac, which are each named for a different US state. The airport also features multiple midfield concourses, which were built starting in the 1980s, and vary in size and design from the older, lower concourses which feature gates that require passengers to walk on the tarmac, and newer, taller concourses that feature jetways and soaring ceilings, which are connected to the main terminal via an underground train system. The airport today serves as the primary hub for international flights in the Washington, DC region, with more limited domestic service compared to the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Main Terminal, Washington Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia
Opened in 1962, Washington Dulles International Airport was constructed to provide additional commercial air transportation capacity to the Washington, DC region, and was planned by Civil Engineering firm Ammann and Whitney. The most notable structure in the airport complex is the Main Terminal, a Modern structure designed by Eero Saarinen, which features a catenary curve concrete roof suspended from columns on either side that lean outwards to counterbalance the structural forces of the roof, with the landside columns of the terminal being higher than the airside columns. At the center of the terminal is a distinctive control tower with a concavely curved concrete base, with multiple tiers of control rooms above featuring windows that taper towards the bottom and a large antenna atop the roof. The main terminal was extended to either side in 1996, matching the original design and doubling the size of the main hall of the terminal. The airport is notable for its use of approximately 50 mobile lounges, large multi-passenger vehicles, which shuttle airline passengers and crew between the main terminal and airplanes parked on the tarmac, which are each named for a different US state. The airport also features multiple midfield concourses, which were built starting in the 1980s, and vary in size and design from the older, lower concourses which feature gates that require passengers to walk on the tarmac, and newer, taller concourses that feature jetways and soaring ceilings, which are connected to the main terminal via an underground train system. The airport today serves as the primary hub for international flights in the Washington, DC region, with more limited domestic service compared to the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.