Terminal 1 at O’Hare International Airport, airport terminal at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago that was designed by Helmut Jahn and completed in 1987.
An airport terminal is subject to perhaps more change and fluctuation than any other commercial structure: it needs to be highly flexible in regard to the utilization of its space. After the Deregulation Act was passed in the United States in 1978—and 1986 in the United Kingdom—airfares dropped substantially, and air travel increased dramatically. In addition, airplanes became larger and thus necessitated more ground space and more efficient passenger handling facilities.
These were pertinent considerations in the planning of United Airlines’s new Terminal 1 at O’Hare, replacing the original Terminal 1. The innovative design came from Jahn. The finished design is simple in its basic layout: it incorporates two long, high-capacity buildings (concourses) that run parallel to each other and are connected with a pedestrian corridor that houses a moving walkway and a pulsating sound-and-light sculpture created by Canadian artist Michael Hayden. The first building acts as a landside and airside terminal with ticketing and passenger check-in facilities on the upper story and baggage claim on the lower story. The second building is mainly for enplaning and deplaning passengers. Both buildings have towering barrel-vaulted ceilings and were constructed of an exposed steel framework and glass that echoes 19th-century railway stations.
This sense of historic respect is further emphasized inside through Jahn’s use of simple geometric details and clean, classical lines. This, combined with its modern, almost futuristic elements, make Terminal 1 one of the most interesting airport buildings of the 20th century. In 1991 the American Institute of Architects selected it as one of the 10 “best works of American architecture since 1980,” and it continues to be regarded as a unique and extraordinary contribution to airport architecture.