From Airport to Spaceport
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From Airport to Spaceport: Designing for an Aerospace Revolution by Paula Selvidge A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture School of Architecture and Community Design College of The Arts University of South Florida Major Professor: Theodore Trent Green, R.A. Mark Weston, M.Arch. Howard R. Klein, M.B.A. Date of Approval: April 13, 2010 Keywords: architecture, transportation, travel, technology, aerotropolis © Copyright 2010, Paula Selvidge DEDICATION To the most understand and supportive fiancée in the universe: Marc S.A. Glasgow – may he rest in peace. He inspired me to take on the world and conquer it. His consistent faith in me carried me through the rough times and gave me the strength to persevere even after his death. I will love him always and miss him dearly. This is for you. Marc S.A. Glasgow September 23, 1965 - September 20, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to my great architecture friends who stuck by me in the trenches during these years. Thanks to the greatest architecture professors I’ve had the honor to learn from: Steve Cooke, Jin Baek, Stanley Russell, Joseph Toph, Ron Dulaney and Vikas Mehta, and a special thanks to my thesis chair, Theodore Trent Green, and the committee members, Mark Weston and Howard Klein, who guided me through this confounded process, so that I might emerge a successful architecture student. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to those whose invaluable input I could not have done it without: Richard Todd, Sam Ximenes, President of Exploration Architecture, Peter Salomonsson, Kiruna Airport Manager of Spaceport Sweden, and William Mitchell of the Nastar Center. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 2 Brief History of Transportation Technology: Causes and Effects.......................... 2 Seafaring Vessels: Begin of Cross-Culturation .......................................... 2 Locomotives: Industrial Revolution Prioritizes Efficiency ........................ 4 Automobiles: Privatization Prompts Urban Sprawl.................................... 7 Aeroplanes: International Commerce Demands Efficiency ..................... 10 Reusable Launch Vehicles and Spaceplanes: Innovation Saves Time ..... 13 On the Edge of an Aerospace Revolution............................................................. 16 How Spacecraft and Spaceplanes Might Effect Civilization.................... 16 What is a Spaceport?............................................................................................. 19 Spaceports Today...................................................................................... 20 U.S. Space Activity................................................................................... 20 Emergence of Commercial Spaceports: A New Perspective.................... 21 Spaceports: Vision of the Future............................................................... 24 PERCEDENT STUDY RESEARCH ............................................................................... 29 Airport Typology .................................................................................................. 29 Precedent Study Airport........................................................................................ 37 Kansai International Airport ..................................................................... 37 DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH.................................................................................. 44 Aerotropolis and the Airport City......................................................................... 45 Globalization and Terrestrialism........................................................................... 49 i SPACEPORT RESEARCH.............................................................................................. 52 Government Regulations ...................................................................................... 52 Spaceport America................................................................................................ 54 Space Flight Training: Nastar Center ................................................................... 59 PROGRAM....................................................................................................................... 63 Design Problem..................................................................................................... 63 Design Plan ........................................................................................................... 64 Program Components and Spaces......................................................................... 64 Spaceport Masterplan Components .......................................................... 65 Aerospace Terminal Spaces...................................................................... 66 PROJECT SITE ................................................................................................................ 69 Site Criteria ........................................................................................................... 69 Site Analysis ......................................................................................................... 74 Site Selection ........................................................................................................ 87 DESIGN RESTRICTIONS & OPPORTUNITIES........................................................... 91 Site Limitations..................................................................................................... 91 Space Vehicle Design Limitations........................................................................ 91 Design Opportunities: Form, Structure, Materials and Character ........................ 92 Time Restrictions.................................................................................................. 93 SUMMARY OF INTENT ................................................................................................ 94 Transformation of Research Into a Design ........................................................... 94 DESIGN CONCEPTS ...................................................................................................... 95 Initial Design Ideas ............................................................................................... 95 Masterplan Development...................................................................................... 95 Aerospace Terminal Conceptual Design ............................................................ 104 SCHEMATIC DESIGN.................................................................................................. 110 Exploration of Terminal Forms .......................................................................... 110 Evolution of the Concept .................................................................................... 114 FINAL DESIGN GRAPHICS ........................................................................................ 119 Precedent for a Commercial Spaceport and Aerospace Terminal ...................... 119 ii Final Spaceport Masterplan ................................................................................ 119 Final Aerospace Terminal Complex ................................................................... 125 DEFINITIONS................................................................................................................ 147 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 150 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................... 153 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Travel Time Comparison for Different Modes of Transportation.......................28 Table 2: Airport Gate Statistics as of 2008........................................................................66 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Diagram Showing Project Research Subjects ......................................................1 Figure 2: Mesolithic vessel, found in Pesse, Netherlands ...................................................2 Figure 3: Port Scene with the Embarkation of St Ursula 1641 by Claude Lorrain .............3 Figure 4: San Francisco Harbor 1908 ..................................................................................3 Figure 5: San Francisco Harbor Today................................................................................4 Figure 6: Pier 39, San Francisco Harbor..............................................................................4 Figure 7: Typical Wagonway in the 1800s..........................................................................5 Figure 8: Early 1800s Steam Locomotive ...........................................................................5 Figure 9: North American Rail System created by Radical Cartography............................6 Figure 10: Grand Central Station, NY, 1920 .......................................................................7 Figure 11: Interior of Grand Central Station, NY................................................................7