Abstract
The aviation industry has proven to be largely resilient to external shocks since the 2000s where air travel demand has doubled every 15 years. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has however compelled many governments to implement lockdowns to a degree unimaginable until recently, resulting in a 95% decrease in passenger numbers at the peak of the pandemic. This halt to travel has shed light on the fragility of airport terminals on two scales: the circulation of passengers within the terminal as well as the series of airport processes that govern this circulation. The thesis hence posits that a more adaptive circulation framework within airport terminals is a means to building antifragility. The concept of antifragility, put forth by Nassim Taleb, refers to the property of systems to gain from stress. Instead of engineering a fixed solution for the future, an antifragile system often has a flexible framework, allowing it to adapt to different undefined future scenarios. To contextualize this framework, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 5 was chosen as a site given that plans for the terminal have been delayed for at least 2 years due to the pandemic. The thesis imagines the future of airports, as an adaptive, antifragile system that embraces change across the different scales. A system that is able to dynamically absorb and rebalance itself to unforeseen demands, and reconfigure to curate the future passenger experience. And as a system where change is the very constant, antifragile airports of the future will be able to quickly adapt to our constantly changing landscape.