Terminal of Tomorrow

When I landed at O'Hare this afternoon it dawned on me: maybe 80's design might be on its way back, and nothing says 80s design and architecture more than the Terminal of Tomorrow, which opened at O'Hare International Airport on August 4, 1987. The $515 million terminal complex was designed by Helmut Jahn and has been ranked as one of the 10 best works of American architecture completed since 1980 by the American Institute of Architects. As a kid I would almost pee my pants if I could walk through it. As a teenager it was obviously "totally lame", especially the futuristic audio portion, but now in my 20s, it is again blowing me away, this time with a nostalgic and (I hope) intellectual subtext. Next time you're booking a flight through Chicago consider flying United, maybe just for the sightseeing.