Forks Regional Airport

With a population of 3,828, Forks, Washington could use a regional airport but designed for its own pace.

During a site visit in early autumn 2018, I photographed this 1973 Mercury Capri amongst the stillness of the local auto body shop. This inspired a Wabi-Sabi Americana moodboard with works by Mark Rothko, Raymond Carver, and Todd Hido.

I designed the airport in SketchUp, mimicking a simple warehouse frame that has been lifted on stilts to arrange for parking and a curvy path for the drop-off experience. I started with an elaborate car tunnel and then toned it down to a zig-zag ramp, complementing the switchback walkway.

At the southern end of their drag racing track, post office, and scrap yard, this regional airport has a dual purpose as the town’s second bar.

The following poem tour with allegorical characters discusses the interior architecture’s potential. Forks is where the popular fiction series, Twighlight, is based, granting a vampire character to accompany my classic cat and snail duo.

Sketches are rendered in charcoal and pool table chalk.

May 26, 2023