Architect Peter Ruggiero Explains How He Approaches Airport Design

As a professional airport architect, HOK‘s Peter Ruggiero designs airports for a living, and he has been hard at work for years to improve New York’s most notorious, and Joe Biden’s favorite airport, LaGuardia. So what actually goes into optimizing the design of an airport terminal? This incredible video walks us through the wildly complex process.

As a huge airport nerd I found this utterly captivating. While not geared specifically towards photography, the video provided plenty of insight that we can use in our own photography career when it comes to photographing airports and understanding the terminology and design intent used to approach these massive projects. It is certainly a rare and entertaining look at how design constraints and necessities shape an architect’s approach.

I’ll let the video speak for itself, but it should also serve as a reminder of what a responsibility we are entrusted with when we are hired to photograph these epic projects. Years upon years of work, billions of dollars, and countless man-hours are poured into a project of this scale and we, my friends, are lucky enough to capture it when it is sparkling new – not only for a few bucks in our pocket, but also for historical record, for showing it to the world, and for ensuring that everyone that works on the project has something to show for their years of work.