SFO
Beyond the TSA lines and perfume counters, there is a small city of people who make an airport run. We went behind the security barriers to meet them.
Transiting between place and time, the airport, with its lounges and announcements, advertisements and shopping, is at once everywhere and nowhere. Rem Koolhaas called it Junkspace: familiar, uncannily the same, an endless set of lines, conveyor belts, and walkways. Behind the scenes, though, there is a whole world, a small city of people for whom the airport is simply where they work.
SOUND MADE PUBLIC was commissioned to explore the inner workings of San Francisco International Airport (SFO, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), a few miles south of the city. We produced a series of site-specific audio tales that take you past the barriers and into that world.
One story follows the people and dogs who police what comes into the country: animals, plants, food, and other illicit things. The detectors are not only human but canine, and their noses and training have put them in an interesting position of power. We sat down with the officers and their beloved dogs to find out how it works.
The series was shared through the airport itself, among other places, so the terminal became a kind of installation.
Client
SFO
Project
The Sound of SFO
Services
Concept Development - Creative Direction - Production - Interviews - Post Production
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Our Process
Behind the scenes, behind the barriers.
Opportunity
Millions of people pass through SFO and few notice it. The opportunity was to go where the boarding passes stop and listen to the people who keep it moving.
Insight
Most of us only hurry through an airport. Slow down and listen, and it turns out to be a working city with its own characters, routines, and a few very good dogs.
Outcome
A series of site-specific audio stories, shared through the airport itself, that turned transit time into listening time.
