Boeing 747 Building Sights

BBC

Four Collections -

archive programmes chosen by experts.

For this Collection,

Janet Street-Porter has selected programmes

about post-war architecture.

More programmes on this theme

and other BBC Four collections are available on BBC iPlayer.

What is the essence of a building?

Well, it must

be about

protecting you from the elements -

to keep you warm when it's cold,

cool when it's hot.

And the building tells you something about its

age,

the materials, the structures,

gives a certain symbolic quality to the building,

its point in time.

This place has

a time

that is without doubt

fixed in the last

half of the 20th century.

It exudes confidence, style, technology and friendliness

in

a way that very few other things

have managed to do.

Most buildings are specialised,

but this one

is

very specialised indeed.

It is a jumbo jet.

With about 3,000 square feet of floor space,

16 lavatories, three kitchens,

and an occupancy of up to 376 guests,

this is surely a true building.

This machine blurs

the edges

between technology and a building -

and, what's more, it flies.

It has an extraordinary presence.

When you

look at that tail up there,

it's higher than a six-storey building.

I suppose it's the grandeur, the scale, it's...heroic.

It's also pure sculpture.

I mean, it doesn't really need to fly, it could sit on the ground,

it could be in a museum.

I suspect it's one of those icons of the late 20th

century

that in generations hence will still be looked at in wonder.

The fact that we call this an aeroplane rather

than a building,

or engineering rather than architecture,

is really a kind of historical hangover,

because, for me, much of what we have here is genuinely architectural,

both in its design and its thinking.

Once you're inside here,

there are many parallels

with modern buildings.

Like a lot of offices,

it's a fixed shell and a moveable interior.

But there's a

certain anticlimax.

I mean, it's really, in many ways, rather bland.

You could say it's in the international hotel style,

which I suppose is

appropriate,

people come and go,

it doesn't have a great deal of character or stimulation.

It could really be almost anywhere.

I'm

really quite passionate

about flying,

whether it's tiny aircraft or giant jumbos like this,

which may explain why

I protest perhaps that most airports

are depressingly more and more like shopping centres

and you barely see the aircraft.

And when you do, and you come inside, then...

the experience of

flying

is

almost anaesthetised

with drinks, food, movies,

the windows are closed, there's

instant music.

Almost anything to pretend

that you're doing something other than flying,

which may be what the interior is

all about.

But somewhere, there's a missed opportunity there.

The reason is that, unlike the exterior,

marketing

is largely responsible

for the interior of this place.

However, tucked away from view there are glimpses of the real thing.

Here,

on the surprisingly tiny

flight deck,

there's a kind of twinkling beauty

and ergonomic efficiency about the layout.

At a more humdrum level, the Business Class

lavatories are admirable.

Space-efficient and beautifully detailed pieces

of industrial architecture.

Elsewhere there

are

really elegant touches.

Recessed, snag-free handles on all the doors

and the galleys have a kind of marvellous American diner style,

all stainless steel

and black plastic.

They somehow feel sadly orphaned

in a place that usually serves pre-cooked food.

And then safety regulations turn some of these parts into pure art.

In the end it's this exuberance of technology as art

that transforms

this bare assembly of parts.

There is, I believe, a common misconception

about

architecture

and design.

The belief that somehow if the forces of nature are allowed to create form

then that form will automatically be beautiful.

The "if it looks right,

it is right"

sort of argument.

Personally, I think this is nonsense.

There's no doubt that an aircraft is an extreme example,

but I cannot believe mere aerodynamics

gave this piece of industrial architecture its heroic outer

form.

This thing WAS designed,

in fact, an engineer called Joe Sutter

is credited as the chief designer.

It's not decorated, it has style.

By

that I mean metaphoric elements

associated with cultural

ideas

of speed, efficiency, power, strength and dependability.

And

yet, it is genuinely beautiful.

I believe all modern architecture

must be capable of this intrinsic style and beauty

without in any way compromising its

function.

It's quite surreal up here,

I mean, in the

strong wind here

the aircraft

is literally flexing its wings,

it's almost as if it wanted to fly.

And yet,

there's a tremendous...

It's almost like the avenue,

the grand approach up to some incredible country house.

Quite inspiring.

These tensions between scale, symbolism and

function

are purely architectural.

Classical and modern buildings often impress by their silhouette alone

but, when we get closer,

they lose that impact

and when close enough to touch, they can be a real disappointment,

let down by shoddy workmanship and

bad detailing.

Only the greatest bear close inspection

and, on this basis,

the 747 is a monumental achievement.

Awe-inspiring in flight and, as

I've said, beautiful closer, too.

And when we reach it - exquisitely detailed.

You

know, we don't make buildings

on sites any more,

we make pieces

in a factory

and then we bring them to the site and we put them together.

Which is exactly

how

this aircraft is made -

a series of subassemblies, little pieces,

which comes together to make the total aircraft.

This is a '60s aircraft that first flew in

1969,

its projected life is forward maybe another 30 years.

We think of buildings as enduring -

this aircraft is more enduring

than a

lot of the '60s buildings

which are already coming down.

Why are they coming down? Because they can't respond to change.

The shell's OK.

This aircraft

- its shell's enduring,

it's responding to change,

there's a lot to learn from this building.

In one sense you could say

it's the ultimate technological

building

sight.