I recently returned from a 5 day trip to Canada, our beautiful neighbor to the north. I was up for a Drupal Training workshop and happened to be there for one of their first BIG storms of the season. I arrived on Monday night (bearly still Monday) at the Vancouver International Airport. I was quite impressed by the human traffic flow of the airport and the welcoming atmosphere. Once off the plane, passengers are sent up a flight of stairs (or optional elevator) to the upper level. From there you can look down three stories, in places, to see the departure lounges on level two and the customs and immigration on the ground floor. The walkways that the arriving international passengers are funneled onto are narrow catwalks that lend to a very open, arie feel.

Part way down the first catwalk, you come across a nature themed welcome area, complete with running water, animal calls (that had me looking around each object for the real animal) and almost life sized tree trunks. (I'm sure that the fact that I was half asleep helped to enhance the beauty of the exhibit the the airport in general.)

Over all, I felt that the thing that I was impressed with the most on the trip was the “corporate” identity that seems to pervade all government related things. From printed materials, to larger banners and signs, the “Canada” logo is everywhere, and it looks nice. It helps to unify the feel of all things government.

In addition to the airport and government signage, the Vancouver area is gorgeous. While it was raining most the the time I was there, I got a brief view of the mountains to the north and east when the clouds lifted. Huge snow capped peaks that felt like you could almost reach out and touch them though the car window! Vancouver BC is now on my list of places to go back to.

Technorati Tags: Design Architecture