Toronto Star

The 19th century had the train station; the 21st has the airport. The former was about the drama of arrival and departure; the latter is about getting there. Though there are a few remaining early airports — Berlin's Tempelhof, Speke in Liverpool and Le Bourget in Paris all date from the 1930s — the contemporary facility looks less like a place of travel than a shopping mall. Toronto's new $4.5-billion Pearson airport, which will open in March, will be no exception. Of course, back in the late 1920s and `30s, when airports began to appear, flight still possessed a certain romantic appeal. The aircraft themselves were exquisitely sculpted objects that celebrated the beauty of speed and humanity's newly gained mobility. Airports were Art Deco country clubs with an observation tower in front and windows everywhere