I’m officially zombified and just over halfway into the 17hr Rome – Hong Kong Middle East neutral zone crossing haul… pitstopped at Dubai International. In my mumbled stupor I thought it appropriate to publicly slaughter Dubai’s newish Terminal 3 Aiport. I’m not sure why people rave about this neon plane-park. To me it’s one big disgustified climate controlled conveyor-belted hyper-chromed hideousness of a 24hr mall you have no choice in visiting at some ungodly hour… and yes, everything is open ALL the time.
Terminal Three, opened 2 years ago exclusively for Emirates is exclusively awful. It may be the largest building in the world by floorspace but that certainly won’t win it any notable accolades other than perhaps a paragraph in the Guinness Book of Records. There’ll be no international architectural awards handed out for this high polished garbage tip of every conceivable modern finish.
43 million pie-eyed air mile junkies shuffle through the T3 travel barn every year. That’s a lot of neck pillows and Jonnie Walker Red Label every second Chinese traveller seems to be intravenously attached to. That’s not a racist comment – it’s an observation from a Glomad that notices way too much of everyone else’s travel business.
Enough slander Josh – I’m not my usual polite and slightly more dignified self at this hour.
Here are some Wiki-facts to give you some perspective of the size of this operation whilst you sip away at your morning latte. In Terminal 3 there are:
- 82 moving walkways
- 97 escalators
- 8 skytrains
- 157 elevators
- 180 check-in counters
- 15,000 m2 of shopping facilities
- A baggage handling system that shuffles 8,000 bags/hr along a 90km network
- 85,000 passengers pass through the terminal every day.
Wikipedia it yourself… just to see the insane amount of information listed. Compare it to the gorgeous vastness of Barcelona’s serene El Prat airport who present just enough information for a well edited bio.
This introduction to the United Arib Emirates’ expansion seems to match the problems I have only read about to do with Dubai’s disastrous town planning efforts. Monocle is a long way off giving them a top 10 accolade for world’s most liveable cities… time for the Sheik to pop to Copenhagen and hire a bike.
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2 comments - add yours below
Amen. If this kind of hyper-consumerist shit fight is worth raving about I’m completely at a loss as to why. Even if the meaning of life WAS shopping (a depressing thought), this desert of glass and chrome just isn’t a nice place to do it. Personally, it makes me want to kill myself. So yes… Dubai Terminal 3… not so much.
Agree – If I see one more Gucci/Hermes/Prada/Bally/Blah clustering around the global airport circuit I’ll die of over-yawning. I admit the jet-lag was somewhat pleasantly mind altering, but I’m never so removed from reality that I am blinded by pure architectural infrastructural atrocity… Emirates thumbs up but’ Terminal 3 cancelling headphones’ required.