In this article I have argued that in the design of Beijing’s Terminal 3, Norman Foster has challenged the conventional architecture of airports, solving three crisis that are tightly coupled with their supermodern nature. The scenario presented in this article situates airports at the tensional intersection of spectatorship/solitude, fluidity/control and intimacy/sameness. In order to provide the sensation of spectatorship, contemporary airports create new ordeals of solitude; in order to attain continual fluidity, oppressive control mechanisms are enforced; finally, in an attempt to make passengers feel at home, airports become all the same: uniform, aseptic supermodern non-places. At PEK T3, these tensions are relaxed. By reinventing the airport terminal in the image of train station concourses, Foster reinvents the splendor of space, awash with natural daylight to resist the solitude of travel. The straightforward orientation system, embedded in the color palette of the roof, coupled with the spatial arrangement of domestic and international halls, provides natural fluidity without incurring in oppressive signage and control. The use of traditional Chinese colors and lines is an attempt to situate the airport in its local cultural fabric, opposing the flattening effect of the globalized airport atmosphere.