We suspect the reason we write so much about designer furniture in an airport context is simply because of the amount of time we spend in airports.

And consequently the amount of time we spend thinking about and analysing what we are being offered.

If you’re going to be delayed at Frankfurt for five hours. You want to make sure that your seat is comfy.

If you’re going to have to spend the night at Copenhagen Airport. You want to make sure your seat is comfy.

If you’re… you get the idea.

However it’s not just us who are spending ever more time at airports. The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in airline passenger numbers: and ever greater passenger numbers obviously means an ever greater demand for airports and airport infrastructure.

And as with all such architectural projects, the owners and operators want an interior that is as familiar as it is unique.

The biggest and most important trade fair for airport operators is Passenger Terminal Expo, and in addition to companies offering baggage handling and signage solutions, designer furniture producers such as Vitra or USM Haller are also a regular feature of the show.

Passenger Terminal Expo 2012 is being hosted by Vienna Airport, and ahead of the show we spoke to Pascal Berberat, Head of Vitra’s Airport Division, about airport furnishings, their collaboration with Alberto Meda and, most important for us, why seats in airports always have armrests? But started by asking why a globally active company such as Vitra needed a specialised airport division?

Pascal Berberat: The airport business is globally very uniform. Where, for example, the choice of home furnishings is often affected by cultural aspects; airports are very similar and have similar requirements regardless of where they are. And so where Vitra has an international network of agents and specialist dealers for home and office furniture, it makes more sense to have a central airport department. Plus an airport isn’t just departure lounges it is more like a small city, with shops, medical facilities, restaurants etc… so a wide range of zones where furniture is required. And so in that respect Vitra can offer a wide range of solutions and experience in all types of furnishings.

(smow)blog: Staying with departure lounges. What for you are the most important criteria for airport seating?

Pascal Berberat: For me it is about combining the, sometimes conflicting, requirements of the passengers need and right for well being with the airport or the operators need for efficiency.

(smow)blog: In that context. In addition to specifically created products such as the Airline Series from Sir Norman Foster, you also offer various Vitra classics from, for example, Maarten Van Severen as airport seating. Is that necessary? Why not just stick with one, specially created, product?

Pascal Berberat: Nowadays everybody is talking about ecology and sustainability. A topic which has been anchored in Vitra’s processes for decades. However, being actively engaged in sustainability doesn’t just mean using renewable resources, optimizing waste management, designing products with a long life cycle, etc. It is also about offering our clients products with a visual sustainability. We’re all guilty of having once thrown out an object that was still working or had been in good shape. We dumped it because it was out of fashion.
Through working with a variety of designers, in particular with the “old masters” like George Nelson, Jean Prouvé or Charles and Ray Eames we learn what is important to successfully develop products which are not only long lasting but also have a visual sustainability. Considering that 90% of CO2 emissions are generated during the manufacturing process of a product, what is more ecological: using a product for decades or replacing it every 5 years because it’s aesthetics seem to be outdated? Vitra’s history with the old masters combined with the freshness of  contemporary designers and engineers allow us to develop products with the potential to become classics of the future.

(smow)blog: Which leads nicely on to the next question. You recently worked with Alberto Meda on the Meda Gate series? Why Alberto Meda, who is after all best known for his office furniture ?

Pascal Berberat: Alberto Meda has worked on numerous projects with Vitra, and has created successful concepts for us in the past. Alberto Meda is a designer and engineer: which makes him perfect for the specific and particular demands of an airport seat. Thanks to Alberto Meda’s engineering excellence we now have in Meda Gate a product which not only responds to the extraordinary heavy use situation in airports; but also offers superior comfort in an very elegant aesthetic. Plus one has to add that in addition to his technical competence he is a very charismatic person and it is a real joy to work with him!

(smow)blog: To end. You’ve already said what you find important in airport chairs. Now its our turn. One thing that annoys us is armrests on chairs in airports. Why don’t you want to let us sleep?

Pascal Berberat: When people lie on benches at airports, one person takes up a whole bench. And then the airport’s capacity calculations don’t work. I have three seats, but only one user. And so instead we offer recliner elements within the Airline and Meda series for use in areas where airports expect higher numbers of transit passengers….

Vitra Airport Division. Here at Passenger Terminal Expo 2011 in Copenhagen

Meda Gate by Alberto Meda for Vitra

In addition to departure lounges airports also have VIP and Airline Lounges that need to be furnished. For example with Suita by Antonio Citterio.

In the past we have often talked about airports, airport design and airport furniture.

And not just because we want to demonstrate how much we travel and how often we are in airports.

But because we find it just as important that high-quality furniture is available in public spaces as in the home or office.

If you think your office furniture is well used – imagine the stress your average airport chair is put under.

From March 23rd until March 25th Europe’s largest airport terminal conference and exhibition will take place at Brussels Airport.

Airline airport seating by Sir Norman Foster for Vitra in Toulouse Blagnac airport

At Passanger Terminal EXPO senior airport planners, managers and designers will discuss in a series of conferences how to improve airports and the airport experience, while in the exhibition area over 150 producers will present their products- as the organisers put it- “from baggage handling and security to passenger check-in and seating solutions”

And, needless to say (smow) has all four areas covered.

Vitra provide a range of elegant public seating solutions from Eames plastic chairs, over designs from Maarten van Severen and on to the dedicated “Airline” range by Sir Norman Foster.

While for all desks and shop solutions – be it check in desks, security or display cabinets – the majestically flexible system USM Haller meets every challenge; and can also be integrated with baggage conveyor belts

And for baggage handling… there’s always the M 4 R from Tecta

More information on USM Haller airport solutions from (smow) can be found at http://airport.smow.com/ and you can read our reports from the 2010 Passenger Terminal EXPO here in the (smow)blog.

Passenger Terminal EXPO 201 with smow and USM Haller

Only the best for smow - Aircraft from the former DDR Airline

Firstly apologies for the small delay… the internet connections in Milan aren’t all they could be :)

Sir Norman Foster's "Airline" system for Vitra as public seating at Munich Airport

A couple of months ago we mentioned the Terminal trade fair and introduced Vitra’s range of public seating solutions. And so it was with a particular joy to experience the chairs in action this morning at both Munich and Leipzig airports.
Wheres in Munich we just saw Sir Norman Foster’s “Airline” system, in Leipzig we saw both the “Airline” and .03 from Maartin Van Severen.
Both airports have been using the system longer than we have been writing this blog – and in both the inevitable consequences of the millions of travellers was all to evident.
That said, in both airports the chairs not only looked good, but were fulfilling their function with aplomb.

System USM Haller in use at Leipzig Airport

A double joy awaited us in Leipzig, however, as we headed towards departures…namely a system USM Haller construction in use as a welcome desk. Smow have designed several such desk systems as, for example, receptions in lawyers and doctors offices. Aside from the flexibility of the system, the particular advantage of the USM Haller system is that it is possible to leave the back “open” and so custom create storage space.
Sadly for “operational reasons” we were not allowed to photograph the desk from behind, and so you will have to take our word for it that it looked good.

Milan Malpensa Airport - A dream in granite and tiling

And then came Milan airport. They may favour a different type of seating here, and although a tick less impressive than Banesa Airport in Bucharest – a location that in itself is worth the trip – the graceful “neo-romantic-Bauhaus” form and functionality of Malpensa airport has really put us in the mood for the coming week.

Foster series from helit

Norman Foster is not only a lord of the realm and one the worlds most in demand architects, but also one of the leading modern industrial designers. With his agency Foster + Partners, he has completed important architectural projects in six continents including the Vivaldi Tower in Amsterdam, Stansted Airport in England and the Elephant House at Copenhagen Zoo. However, Lord Foster has also turned his attention to smaller-scale object, including a range of desk accessories for helit; a range which combines functionality with simplicity.

Business card box from the

Using a combination of aluminium and PERDUR – a black synthetic fabric with a silky finish – Lord Foster has created not only a high quality items but an optically and tactilely outstanding product range.

The clock, penholder, paper clip holder, note paper container and tape dispenser initially hide their true function. Only once the lid has been removed and inserted into the base can their functionality be enjoyed. And once you are finished replace the lids and not only do the articles regain their annonymity but your desk a controlled order.

Hole punch from the

Additionally the helit Foster Series contains a mousepad, a hole punch, a stapler, a filing tray and a waste paper bin. All articles can be mixed-and-matched and slide into specially constructed rails on the writing mat.

Further information on the Foster Series can be found here.