Next time you’re in an airport, look down at your feet. To be precise, look at what you’re walking on. Could be terrazzo – long-lived, infinitely artistic terrazzo.
As a kid, this Cheapflights reporter journeyed across continents, and spanned seas – all by tracing with his feet bands of inlaid brass. Those band outlined air routes emanating from Dallas Love Field. The marvelous map of the world is still there in the terminal lobby, just as it was when it opened back in 1957. In a sign of the times, it’s covered now by TSA security lines. It’s due to see the light of day again then a new multi-million dollar makeover of the terminal is complete in 2014.
Reagan Washington National is home to what’s perhaps the best ingrained airport artwork in the country. Trek National Hall from end to end and look down. The marble and glass floor medallions are magnificent, catching the light shining in from the hall’s floor-to-ceiling window walls. It’s a proper setting for this jewel box of a terminal.
Now, terrazzo is taking off at Cleveland Hopkins International, a major hub for United (and its new partner, Continental) Airlines. The first piece of artwork is Hooked on Cleveland, a work centered on a fish swimming in Lake Erie. The fish is surrounded by iconic symbols representing all that’s best in the city. It’s the first of what will eventually be seven pieces of floor art at CLE.
Airport Director Ricky Smith says, “The terrazzo floor project has been a labor of love for the airport. It completely changes the atmosphere of the terminal.”
And, maybe just a little bit, the attitude of a few flyers.
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Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: colros)
