Terminal 5 Documentary

I enjoyed the documentary we watched in class last week, Terminal 5. It was very interesting to see how an art exhibit comes together and all the hard work that goes into it. This was a case of life immitating art and how the entire exhibit and the airport terminals connection with the art world caused it's own undoing.

In the begginning of the film the architect said that they were not even sure the Terminal would even stand up and hold it's own weight. They were actually concerned that the entire structure would colapse on top of them once the roof was standing on it's own. The architects and those involved in building it were actually suprised that it worked and held up. The terminal was built with doubt about it even working from the begginning of it's conception. How they were able to get this project financed and how they could put lives at risk building a structure they were unsure would be safe is beyond me. I can only imagine that the laws and regulations in the 1950's weren't as strict as they are today. But the terminal was built and it did stand on it's own, becoming a beautiful work of architecture that created an incredible flying experience. However, it's beauty and design was it's ultimate undoing.

The currator also went into creating the exibit without a plan that was 100% fail proof. Her plans were done on a whim, just as the terminal itself was. The idea of the terminal was great on paper and in the minds of the creators, but in execution, but Terminal 5 and the art exhibit were in the end ultimately failures. Terminal 5 was celebrated and marveled at, loved and admired by those in the art world in it's short lived life. Just like the terminal, the exhibit was amazing and enjoyed for only one short night.

The terminal was not built to accomodate the newest codes and regulations and the exhibit was created in a place that had too stringent of codes and laws to exist. Both the terminal and the exhibit were not able to proliferate and flourish because of the codes, laws, rules, regulations and their inablity to exist while in compliance with them.

So in the end, was it the regulations that caused the terminal and exhibit to fail? Or was the very nature of Terminal 5 and the art exhibit able to be created because they did not comply with regulatons?