Architecture Alumnus Curtis Fentress.
Curtis Fentress (B.Arch. 1972) flies high in the architecture world. His firm, Fentress Architects, has designed a wide range of projects totaling $26 billion worldwide, including the world’s fourth-tallest building—the Arraya Tower in Kuwait City (2009)—and the renowned National Marine Corps Museum in Washington, D.C. But his most visited projects are award-winning international airports and terminals that include Denver International Airport and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. In June, 2010, the American Institute of Architects honored Fentress with the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest honor for public architecture.
National Marine Corps Museum
Q: What got you interested in designing airports in particular?
A: In my fifth year at the College of Design I had to do a thesis project, and I selected the “kiss and fly” concept for airports. But I developed an interest in airports long before that, when I was just a child. My thesis was back in 1972. But it was 1995 before I got an opportunity to work on my first airport.
Q: Your first high profile airport was Denver International. What was that like?
A: We were handed another architect’s design from the city and were told it was over budget by $75 million and a year behind schedule. Our challenge was to get the project back on budget and on schedule. “Oh, and by the way, the mayor is not happy with the design,” they said. How long did we have to come up with an interesting design concept? Three short weeks. Ultimately, we turned it upside down, put the mechanical equipment in the basement, used a fabric roof that related the design to the surrounding snow-capped mountains, and reduced the tonnage. We came in at $40 million under budget, saving the city $115 million for the terminal.
(Photos courtesy of Fentress Architects. From top left-right: Interior and exterior of Denver terminal; Sketch and model for the LAX terminal. Bottom left-right: Approaching the National Marine Corps Museum on I-95, interior; Fentress and the RDU terminal.)
Q: It would seem that you helped make airports—in the past viewed mainly as functional—to be seen as “sexy.” Is that a fair way to put it?
A: Sexy, huh? Now that’s a thought… After the Second World War people started traveling by air and airport terminal design mushroomed as a building type. The buildings were efficient and straight-forward. They were more like warehouses and hangars than airports: low light, cramped spaces with low ceilings, no greenery or art programs. We are always mindful of bringing the excitement of travel back into the airport.
The airport is the gateway to a city, forming the first and last impression for visitors. Therefore, designing with a sense of place is important to me. For example, Raleigh-Durham is the only major airport in the United States with laminated wood beams in the ceiling, calling to mind the region’s heritage of handcrafted furniture. There’s a glass art piece that stretches the length of the concourse, and it tells the story of the Wright brothers’ first flight and other tales that offer insight into the region’s culture.
Fentress with LAX team.
Q: Do you see airport design evolving even further, and, if so, in what directions?
A: More than any other public architecture, airports see constant change. E-ticketing has changed the ticket counters dramatically. And 9/11 changed security check-in. There are whole new floor levels where all this security equipment is placed.
Even the evolution of aircraft affects the design. For example, the most recent change is that manufacturers have introduced a whole new generation of very large aircraft: the A380—the French double-decker Airbus—which can carry 400 to 700 people, and Boeing’s Dreamliner. These next generation aircraft put new stresses on the terminal and concourses—many more people waiting to get on the plane, more use of facilities, including restrooms, shopping and food service. And airports have to intersect with multimodal transportation: buses, light rail, heavy rail—even water taxis, which you find in Venice.
We have to design buildings that are flexible and accommodate things in the future that we can’t even imagine today.
Q: You’ve recently pledged over $100,000 for future students at the College. What do you hope those scholarship dollars will accomplish?
A: I grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina, way in the country.
I didn’t know much about NC State or about architecture. I liked to draw, so someone recommended I apply to the engineering school. I didn’t know what an architect was. Where I was from, if you needed something, you just built it yourself.
I was thinking of a student like myself who would not have had that opportunity to go to school without a scholarship. If it helped just one young student find his passion in life, that’s more than worth it.
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