Design Forecast 2016

Gensler Design Forecast 2016
Aviation & Transportation
Travel gets an upgrade
As the passenger-focused goal of delivering
a holistic travel experience takes hold, it
will shift the emphasis from lowering costs
to growing revenues by improving service.
This will take in speed, ease, and efficiency,
as well as comfort, amenity, and connection.
To step up their role as connectors—between
communities, regions, and with the world—
airports are forging stronger relationships
with their cities. They’re also asking, together
with the airlines, “What is a world-class
experience?”—a question that they
need to pose constantly to keep pace with
the industry.
More robust fast transit systems, like trains,
will make travel easier between the city and
the airport and bring them closer together.
As they align more with hospitality, airports
also draw on and reflect the best of what
their cities have to offer—cuisine, retail, arts,
and culture. Letting people move seamlessly
through and beyond the airport, their smart
devices handling the checkpoints and transitions,
is the immediate future.
Where transit capacity lags behind demand,
augmenting what exists will be the first
priority. Automatic control systems will
allow rail networks to handle more and
faster trains. Apps will let passengers
time their journeys and pay for all of it—
including car and bike sharing—with their
smart devices. On the horizon are driverless
trains that can run closer at a higher
average speed.
Transit hubs and corridors are the linchpins
of mixed-use districts. Their value as portals
and destinations points to multipolar
cities—characterized by numerous compact,
walkable centers that will shorten
commutes and cut traffic congestion.
As de facto retail centers, airports and
transit hubs are subject to consumer trends
that decouple looking, buying, and delivery.
Different kinds of retail spaces may be
the outcome, as cash and carry is supplanted
and experience becomes the main attraction.
below: San Francisco International Airport
Terminal 3, Boarding Area E, San Francisco
above: Confidential data and operations
center, Shanghai
Critical Facilities
Housing the Cloud
Cloud computing and smart devices,
including houses and cars, are the main
factors behind strong demand for data
centers. To meet this demand, larger players
are entering the market with multilocational
programs. Along with growth comes change.
The old mantra of reliability at any cost
is giving way to lower-tiered, often smaller
facilities. Pervasive cybersecurity issues
are being met with command centers and
operation centers to monitor and safeguard
networks and backbone infrastructure.
Regulatory changes—for US utilities, for
example—make this a priority.
Data center technical innovations include
using fuel cells, the only form of energy that
consumes zero water, for storing energy
and providing backup power. Wireless
innovations that increase the capacity and
quality of existing networks will make it
easier to meet demand without relentless
growth in facilities. Using graphene, a
superconductive material, in processors
will cut their energy consumption and heat
generation, leading to even denser data
centers that require less power.
People are curious about the critical facilities
that underpin our digital connections. That’s
why some companies are letting people
see and interact with their facilities as part
of their brand expression.
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