Osaka Airport

For years I had dreamed of arriving into Kansai International Airport. Endlessly frustrated by my dim-witted travel agency who insisted on arranging a flight into Narita, ground transfer to Haneda, then domestic flight to Itami, eventually in 2014 I managed to book my own flight... Why the obsession? Well, not just because it is a beautiful building designed by Renzo Piano (he of Piano & Rogers fame), but also because it is a fantastic bit of engineering, resolving many of the issues of how to build a world class airport when the NIMBY community is up against you. Rather than facing the armed rebellions of the locals as at Narita, the sensible citizens of Osaka decided to build an island so their new airport could function 24/7 without annoying anyone and without expropriating or blighting the existing limited land. As a result the landfill sinks continuously, compensated for by hydraulic jacks which raise the columns as the ground slowly settles below. Brilliant, if a trifle expensive at $20 billion!