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To be viable, successful and sustainable - and in the major league of the
world's top 21st Century airports - Ivanpah Valley Airport will have to reach a step beyond what North America has heretofore
shown regarding international airports.
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By Robert L. Candiotti Published October 16, 2008 Updated May 5, 2011
Globally, international airport development is continuing right now. The new Abu Dhabi International Airport (depicted
above) is an example of excellence in the realm of technologically advanced, long-haul capable, international airports.
Proposed to be built just outside of Las
Vegas, Nevada, close to the Nevada-California border along the main motor vehicle travel artery of I-15, Ivanpah
Valley Airport has to be unequivocally futuristic. Ivanpah is going
to need to be complementary to Las Vegas' current McCarran International Airport (Ivanpah is regularly described as being
"supplemental" to McCarran), but also quite different from it. In
order to be successful - and equal to the awe-inspiring nature of Las Vegas (30 miles to the north) - Ivanpah Valley
Airport is going to need exemplary infrastructure, the most modern accommodations for technologically advanced long-haul
aircraft, an integrated ground transportation system radiating from Ivanpah that will be the talk of the planet, plus
architectural creation on a level matching the most impressive structures at international airports around the world.
Is this asking too much of Ivanpah Valley Airport?
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| Singapore Changi Airport is recognized as an impressive airport with strength in infrastructure. |
INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED Ivanpah Valley Airport is going to need to be designed with every environmental enhancement in mind, from passenger
check-in and boarding flows to ample taxiways, aprons and gates. Presently, many
European airports are reaching their expansion saturation points, and dozens of U.S. airports are becoming outdated. The rare,
new international airport, such as Ivanpah, simply must incorporate every salient infrastructure improvement. Just because
world air traffic is becoming congested and more complex, it does not mean it will disappear. It cannot disappear. Jet travel
is here to stay. The airports that are efficient and environmentally advanced will inherit the future of long-haul air
travel. Airport inefficiencies of the future will arise directly from inadequacies
in infrastructure. In designing Ivanpah Valley Airport, an incredible amount of details must be attended to to make Southern
Nevada's new airport a smoothly running, profitable international and domestic long-haul airport.
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| Abu Dhabi will have "stands" for the Airbus A380. |
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ACCOMMODATING A380 There will be no point in building Ivanpah Valley Airport if it cannot handle the newest passenger-laden airplane,
the Airbus A380. Because the A380 is a double-deck, massive aircraft, it needs specially designed "stands." Southern Nevada must have a modern, long-haul component to its air traffic capabilities. Ivanpah
must shine in this area to be an attractive and easy destination for the A380 planes that are already landing, or will land,
at many of the world's most forward-looking airports. Some that come to mind are Singapore Changi Airport, and the airports
in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Dubai and New York JFK. Abu Dhabi International
Airport is expanding and planning to receive the A380. Ivanpah Valley
Airport must necessarily be in the network of the world's long-haul international airports. It simply must be a
good place for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 to land and takeoff.
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| Ivanpah potential includes ground transportation. |
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GROUND TRANSPORTATION Germany's Frankfurt Airport is also developing its capabilities for handling the Airbus A380. Beyond that, though, Fraport is significantly working to expand its connections between air travel and rail travel. Frankfurt Airport has 175 high-speed train services a day. Planners of Ivanpah Valley
Airport need to take note of Fraport's alignment with a vast ground transportation system. Ivanpah's required, elaborate ground
transportation will need to go north from Ivanpah to Las Vegas and beyond up to Utah, and south to Primm and far
into California. Ivanpah must be much more than just another Las Vegas airport. It has to be an
ultra-modern and easily accessible California - and probably Utah - airport. Extraordinary ground
transportation connections will comprise a key component of Ivanpah Valley Airport's success.
| Courtesy: Photographer Doc Searls on Flickr |
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| Denver International Airport reflecting both Rocky Mountains and white tepees of Native Americans. |
| Courtesy: Fentress Bradburn Architects |
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| Interior of Incheon International Airport. |
AIRPORT ARCHITECTURE Curtis Fentress, recognized by many as the leading airport architect in the world,
is quoted in Issue 1 2011 of Future Airport magazine, "For a long time, architects overlooked the airport as
an aspirational building type." Fentress, the American architect, has elevated airport designs
with several impressive architectural creations in the world: Denver, Colorado, Denver International Airport (DIA);
Seoul, Korea, Incheon International Airport (IIA); Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles International
Airport (LAX). These airports all reflect excellent work. Architectural design of Southern Nevada's proposed
Ivanpah Valley Airport needs to be imagined and created at the level of the world's most recent beautiful airport designs.
Potentially, Ivanpah Valley Airport can be architecturally stunning. In Future Airport, talking about his architectural development of Incheon,
Fentress says, "Airports should never be about the architect; they must focus on the people and the place." In the
same article, Fentress states, "For a long time, architects overlooked the airport as an aspirational building type." To many students, Fentress' work has been phenomenal
and energizing. Architectural students look closely at his accomplishments. His work and philosophy can give students worthwhile
education and inspiration. Fentress seems to have had elevated observations that led to superior architecture.
As a reflection of his approach, he says, "I don't begin with a preconceived notion of what a building should be - it
is not a sculpture. I prefer to patiently search through extensive discovery until I find a seam somewhere, crack it open
and discover the art inside." A 21st Century approach
- with the region's humanity, history, culture, geography, energy, future, "art inside," etc. - can certainly
lead to interesting architecture at the Ivanpah Valley Airport.
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