The National Air and Space Museum's newest exhibition, Art of the Airport Tower, will be open from November 11, 2015 until November 2016.
To celebrate the opening, Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo will be signing copies of the exhibition's companion book Art of the Airport Tower from 1:00 to 3:00 pm on November 11, 2015. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Art of the Airport Tower takes you on a photographic journey to airports in the United States and around the globe. Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo explores the varied forms and functions of air traffic control towers throughout aviation history and interprets them as monumental abstractions, symbols of cultural expression, and testimonies of technological change. The 50 images in the exhibitoon bring a heightened awareness to the simple beauty of the airport tower and a call for their preservation in the airport landscape.
Art of the Airport Tower has been generously sponsored by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA), Harris Corporation, Rockwell Collins, Saab, and Thales, with in-kind support from Epson America, Inc., and Manfrotto.
Edinburgh Airport, Scotland, United Kingdom (EDI/EGPH)
Originally a military airport, Edinburgh Airport opened to commercial aviation in 1977. It is now Scotland's second largest airport after Glasgow. Edinburgh's new control tower took 15 months to complete and opened in 2005. It stands 57 meters (187 feet) high, which equals 12 double-decker buses stacked on top of one another. The exterior's crisscrossed, double-helix pattern is not just for aesthetics. It also functions as a system of drainage channels. The 9,216 zinc tiles were hand-installed and have aged naturally in the outside environment, reducing the need for maintenance.
The photograph is a part of Art of the Airport Tower, an exhibition that explores contemporary and historical air traffic control towers in the U.S. and around the world.