East Midlands Airport Facility Part 1 Project 2002 Graham GibbonPhilip Harvey De Montfort University | UK The design of the project is about the connection and transition of people from land to air through the composition and juxtaposition of space and form, defined through social connection and sensitivity to materials. Dimension and volume are controlled through functional elements relating to progression. Axes dissect the form north/south separating and emphasising the route of people. Perpendicular axes relate services and dissect spaces to create defined volumes. The geometric structure and an angular form create a perception of flight shooting off into the sky and terminating at the ground while simultaneously drawing in, casting out and embodying the relationship between land and air. Elevational massing is an expression of internal definition and the interpley of internal and external volumes, where planes internally and externally extend into space creating transitional zones. The use of steel plates enhances the planer nature of the design giving sharp angular forms and an inherent precision. Contrasting against the sharp edge of steel is the rugged nature of slate. Internal and external expression are as one, where the formal composition of elements is a direct representation of internal definition and dissecting plane orientation. Each plane is derived through multiple tasks to create, define or separate space, to represent or illustrate purpose. Spaces are designed through a conscious understanding of the nature of people's movements and interactions, forming the basis of architectural expression. Graham'S work, in a way, results from the geometrical organisation of various spatial forms and structures. This is an approach that relies on knowledge of precedent and upon the context of the project. Context should be thought of, in Graham’s approach to design, both in terms of the physical context and the cultural one. He is keen to analyse the formal content and devices used in adjacent buildings to his own work which generate his own formal ideas. Also, the designs are based to an extent upon the interaction of patterns of movement of the users of his work. That is Graham’s designs are the result of both a formal and a social attitude to design with a strong contextual basis. Graham's method of work relies upon the use of computer graphics but arguably more so on model work at all stages of the design process. The use of precedent tends to be a comparative one with his own work rather than one of design quotation. Tutorial sessions tend to be both interactive and an interitive process of reappraising the basis of design thinking. In the final analysis, Graham sets his formal and spatial thinking in a social context and also in the context of the design process.