INNOVATIVE PLANNING AND STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS OF THE AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING OF BORYSPIL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Abstract

Abstract. The study explores the planning and structural solutions of the terminal building (modern Terminal B) at Boryspil International Airport, which were innovative for the period of its design and construction (1959–1965). The architecture of aviation transport infrastructure facilities is defined by the styles prevailing in the corresponding historical period. A number of such facilities are constructed based on standard projects due to the specific nature of technological processes, which often do not require architectural expressiveness in the elements of the transport enterprise's construction. Airport terminals, however, are an exception, as their architecture allows them to serve as unique “business cards” for cities and countries. This is especially evident in the objects representing the heritage of modernist architecture (1960–1990), which, due to various reasons, risk being lost after 50 years of operation. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to the reinterpretation of the heritage of modernist architecture by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). A wide range of specialists and the public, including those in Ukraine, are involved in studying the historical and social conditions of its emergence, as well as the features of scientific research, design, technological, and regulatory support for disseminating knowledge and preservation practices. Objective of the Study. To trace the dynamics of changes and development in airport terminals' technological, planning, structural, and engineering solutions, from passenger pavilions to multi-terminal complexes, with special attention to a particular facility built at Boryspil International Airport. The research is based on materials from libraries, archives, private collections, construction regulations, and project and operational documentation. The study's methodology involves using various methods, including source studies, comparative and critical analysis, and a systematic approach to examining the object as part of aviation transport infrastructure and a sample of modernist architecture. The data characterizing the research object as a significant component of Ukraine's aviation transport infrastructure and a sample of Kyiv's modernist architectural heritage are analyzed. Unique proposals from that time regarding the organization of passenger service processes, including land-based support with buildings and structures like enclosed boarding galleries, open terraces with observation deck functions, external and internal ramps, have been identified and evaluated. The impact of global practices on the formation of technological schemes, planning, structural, and engineering solutions of the airport terminal has been assessed. The specific individual approaches to solving the complex tasks of spatial organization in the airport terminal complex and forming its expressive architectural image, enhancing the psychological effect of staying at the terminal, and implementing advanced industrial methods for producing and assembling precast reinforced concrete structures (including double positive curvature shells) have been revealed. The study identifies the unique planning and structural solutions of an aviation transport infrastructure object, which, during the design and construction stages, satisfied the social demand for creating comfortable conditions for mass passenger transportation. It also ensured free access for visitors to the best viewpoints for observing events and processes on the apron and runway. The results can be used: • To study and solve the development and management problems of airport terminal complexes, which include objects with varying resource and cultural potential requiring lifecycle extension. • To address issues related to the preservation, deconservation, and further technical operation of the facility, which is currently in a state of conservation. • To prevent irreparable losses of modernist architectural samples within aviation transport infrastructure.