Tegel Airport, opened in 1974 in West Berlin, was not only finished under budget and on time but today also remains an impressive work of art. For their design of the terminal, the architects chose the figure of a large hexagon with edges of 120 meters. A sophisticated use of space created an “airport of short distances,” with as little as twenty-eight meters between the doors of the cars and the aircraft.
In 2020, it appears that TXL will in fact be closed. Photographer Peter Ortner captures his uniquely personal view of the airport complex with the remnants of its past glory—the details so familiar to anyone who has traveled through or waited inside Tegel.

With a short essay by Florian Heilmeyer