The $3.6 billion Traveler Holding Pen

Is there any structure more depressingly predictable than an airport? How much would a truly envigorating airline terminal be worth to travelers? Would it be worth, say, CAN$3.6 billion? The city of Toronto is hoping so, since that’s what its new Terminal 1 cost to build. Lisa Rochon is impressed, if not overwhelmed: “So laborious has become the experience of travel that we no longer expect to find in it moments of pleasure. But at the new Toronto terminal there are delights to be had… Many who have lost faith in the power of public art will find themselves happily restored at the new terminal.” And really, isn’t a bit of post-travel restoration worth a few billion?