Quentin Brathwaite, design lead for JFK New Terminal One, outlined plans at the PTE World Conference today to create what he described as an integrated cultural experience at the new terminal, bringing together art, branding, film and digital media to create a strong sense of place.
Speaking in the session titled ‘Creating the JFKT1 cultural experience: art, branding, film and digital,’ Brathwaite said the ambition goes beyond architecture and operations. “We’re going to talk about a cultural program, and our approach to putting a cultural program forward that we think, and feel very strongly, has the potential to change the aviation industry, and how we look at preparing spaces for our guests,” he said.
He stressed that the terminal’s wider strategy is central to that approach. “We don’t have passengers. We have guests,” he said, adding that this forces the team to think differently about the airport environment and the role culture can play within it.
Brathwaite said the program is intended not only to create moments of delight but also to respond to the stress often associated with air travel. “Art can provide comfort and relaxation for passengers who are very anxious, and what it can do is also provide spaces of delight,” he said.
The New Terminal One, due to open at the end of this year, spans more than 241,500m2. Brathwaite said that this scale meant the cultural program also had to operate ambitiously. A major focus has been designing not only for opening day but also for the longer term. “We work very hard toward day one, but a big part of our success will be determined day one plus,” he said.
A key theme of the presentation was the challenge of defining what New York means in the context of an international gateway. Brathwaite described the terminal as serving only international carriers, creating a different opportunity for placemaking and dwell time. Because passengers are required to arrive around three hours before departure, he said, the terminal can approach the guest experience through a different lens.
He also emphasized the complexity of representing New York authentically. “New York has many things, many people; it’s local, it’s city wide, it’s region wide and it’s also worldly,” he said. The team therefore selected artists intended to reflect each of those perspectives, including works tied closely to the airport’s home borough of Queens, one of the city’s most diverse.
Brathwaite highlighted the challenge of managing such a broad creative program within a fixed budget. “We are always within budget,” he said. “It means that we have to constantly shift priorities.”
Supporting this, co-presenter Gideon D’Arcangelo, a principal at Arup, said JFK T1 had taken an unusual approach by commissioning art, branding, film and digital experiences as one integrated program. He reported that the goal was to create an experience “that could only happen in New York.”
“The goal wasn’t to create something about New York, it was to create more New York,” he said.
At the close of the session, Brathwaite said the project is now entering a critical delivery phase as opening approaches and the team works to ensure the different elements come together as intended.
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