I recently had the chance to travel through Munich Airport. Have you been? It’s an efficient hub with easy flight connections, and even an on-airport brewery to grab a pint between flights.
While wandering Terminal 2, the center of Lufthansa’s hub there, I found myself pondering the architecture. Designed by Koch + Partner and opened in 2003 — a satellite opened in 2016 — it is straightforward: a steel-and-glass terminal with a “big roof,” two linear concourses, white walls, natural light, sans-serif signage, etc. In other words, take away the brewery and German-language signage and it’s almost indistinguishable from so many other contemporary airports.
Munich Airport doesn’t immediately say “Bavaria” the moment you step off the plane (that was the old Munich Riem).
But sometimes an airport doesn’t need a unique, locally-inspired terminal or a giant, sprawling facility that stretches for miles to be well designed. A good, efficient, modern air hub with a strong dose of German efficiency can be just the ticket — that’s Munich Airport.
Munich Airport was the result of a decades-long process to replace the city’s pre-war, single-runway Riem Airport. An H-shaped layout with two parallel terminals connected by a central services spine proposed by the Munich firm Hans-Busso von Busse (later Busse und Partner) was selected in 1976, according to the Swiss design magazine Bauen + Wohnen.
Busse und Partner’s Terminal 1 opened in 1992. Werk, Bauen + Wohnen described it as “modular” — it had four separate areas, or modules, for flights to different regions (Schengen, intercontinental, etc.) at the time — in design with an aesthetic that emphasized structure (space frame anyone?) and light. But even at the time, the magazine noted that the layout followed a “clearly recognizable design concept.”
I’ll admit: I have not been to Terminal 1. But it has been described to me as something akin to Dallas-Fort Worth or the old Kansas City terminals (the design was selected in the 1970s) but more steel-and-glass than brutalist. Narrower than is ideal for the modern connecting hub with separate checkpoints and other functions for each module.
Koch + Partner’s Terminal 2 came a little over a decade later. Jointly developed by the airport and Lufthansa, the facility followed the master plan completing the eastern leg of the “H.” It dropped the modular aspect of Terminal 1, opting instead for a centralized terminal and linear concourse that prioritized passenger transfers.
“Among the most important design tasks was to convey clarity, a logical organization of routes, [and] ease of orientation,” wrote Norbert Koch of Koch + Partner in the introduction to the firm’s monograph on Terminal 2 by Christoph Hackelsberger. “An important motif of our work was to let passengers ‘follow their noses.’ Every passenger arriving, departing or making a connection should be able to find his or her way ‘almost blindfolded,’ taking the quickest possible route.”
That’s my experience in Terminal 2. Transiting is an intuitive and quick process. I have even made a non-Schengen to Schengen connection in less than Lufthansa’s recommended minimum connect time of 50 minutes. Even arrivals are easy with it possible to make it from gate to S-Bahn in less than 20 minutes.
There is a simple logic to the design of Munich Terminal 2, something that Lufthansa’s other hub — Frankfurt, with its array of concourses and zones — lacks.
The design, of course, is not perfect. Ascending from the terminal-to-satellite train on my recent visit, I heard some grumblings from other travelers about the distance but that’s to be expected of any large airport (I hate to break it those unaware, but all large hubs have long walks).
The terminal building, a “glass cube” as Hackelsberger described it, is itself unique. As a departing passenger I failed to take note that travelers can enter and exit the building from three sides — from the north and south when arriving in vehicles, and from the west when coming from Munich Airport Center and the S-Bahn station. Most airports have just one public, or landside, entryway.
The three-entry layout allows Munich Airport Center, the plaza designed by Helmut Jahn that opened 1999 — the connecting leg, or central services spine, of Busse und Partner’s “H” — to be a pedestrian space. A space that can be activated for various uses throughout the year (Winter Market, ahem).
I unfortunately spent little time in the glass cube of Terminal 2, including missing the observation deck entirely.
One thing that Koch + Partner’s monograph did not mention? A sense of place. The phrase that so many contemporary architects use when describing their approach to airport design. Munich Terminal 2 is a reminder that an airport terminal doesn’t necessarily need local inspiration to be good.
“There is something magical about being at an empty gate at the airport,” photographer Laird Kay recently wrote of Terminal 2 on Instagram. “The quietness, the anticipation of a flight, and appreciation of great design at Munich Airport.”
Well said, Laird, well said.
What I’m Writing
Lufthansa’s Allegris cabin update debuted earlier in May, lacking the new posh first class suites. Instead, the cabin bulkhead featured a spinning wheel of doom and the words “Lufthansa Allegris First Class Loading.” That’s one glaring example of the log jammed aerospace supply chain that airlines face. (FlightGlobal)
Iceland’s Play Airlines is on the cusp of its third summer under the leadership of a new CEO, Einar Ólafsson (who also happens to be its largest shareholder). I recently spoke to Ólafsson recently about his plans for the low-cost carrier (one word: profits). (The Points Guy)
JetBlue and Spirit are in the midst of network redos since their planned merger was shot down in January. JetBlue is focused on its core (bye, LAX!), while Spirit is focused on connecting the dots on its U.S. map excluding Florida. (FlightGlobal)
Multimodality is increasingly proving key to short regional air routes in the U.S., or ones under 200 miles. Mobility company Landline — they operate buses today — has an appealing proposition for airlines, something that American is expanding at its Philadelphia hub. (The Points Guy)
An airline merger taking longer than expected? Shocked I tell you, shocked. That’s the case for WestJet that now expects to complete the integration of Sunwing six months late. (FlightGlobal)
Have airlines over expanded for peak transatlantic demand this summer? They don't think so but there are signs of weakening. (FlightGlobal)
What I’m Reading
Is it the end of the line for the Lufthansa-ITA Airways deal? Leonard Berberi reports on the back and forth between Lufthansa and the Italian government (owner of ITA), and the EU to get the merger over the line. Will their latest offer appease competition authorities who are prepared to reject the deal?
I love supergraphics. In Torched, Alissa Walker introduced me to Barbara Stauffacher Solomon who, as she writes, effectively invented the genre of supergraphics “by splaying paint across architectural elements like walls, doors, floors, sidewalks, streets, and sometimes entire buildings.” BSS, as she is known, recently passed away. (Another graphical wayfinder of note is Jane Davis Doggett)
What I’m Listening To
A peak behind the curtain at Landline from CEO and co-founder David Sunde. He was recently on the Time on Wing podcast talking about the idea behind the company (it’s a mobility company, not a bus company, as he says).
“The market opportunity here is a set of cities that are too close to your hub to fly to cost effectively but, more importantly, are full of people driving themselves to the airport … The way that you get people off the road is with a lot of schedule frequency at an add on to whatever the hub fare that is competitive with parking.”
Colorado may (finally) have a passenger rail line along the Front Range by the end of the decade. Well, at least from Denver to Fort Collins. That’s what Governor Jared Polis told Ryan Warner on Colorado Matters the other week. Give a listen to the governor talk about the housing and transit bills he recently signed into law that could reshape the Front Range.