MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Airports serve as gateways to cities or countries. They are symbolic buildings, the first and last impressions and experiences for visitors. In their early days, airports evoked modernity and impressiveness. Then, during a period of frequent hijacking in the 1960s, they transformed into places of security. Later on, they manifested into “non-places,” as Marc Auge observed, as their super-modernity deprived them of those qualities that created and defined the identity of a place or its relation to the city or country it was introducing. Today, successful airport architecture balances between the global and local character representations in their design features. Airport architecture often leans toward localization when airports are part of a nation-building process, and when they ascribe to regional character and culture, they become city portrayers. This thesis explores how an airport can architecturally represent its city, region, culture, nation and metropolitan or national character as opposed to imparting a global, generic, non-place image on the arriving passenger. The research comprises two main points. First, it examines, from an architectural point of view, the consequences of the Iraqi government's shutting down of the Kurdistan region airports as a punishment for the Kurdistan referendum. Then reviews representations of regional character in airports by investigating literature and airport design precedents, thus establishing background and criteria to study the case study of Sulaymaniyah International Airport in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It also analyzes the efficiency of the airport's performance and tackles its architectural design problems.

Committee: Rebecca Williamson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Tilman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture