We just got back from spending the holiday down in Myrtle Beach, and had to make a connecting flight in Detroit. Is there any significance to that funky tunnel inside the airport? Did they intend for the strange lights and music when they built it, or did it somehow just evolve that way? I’m thinking there must be a story behind it. Everytime I’m there I’m in a BIG rush to catch my connecting flight, so I don’t have time to snoop around for the facts.
That thing is interesting. Kind of makes me feel like I’m in a scene from Logans Run.
Logans Run! No doubt. Everytime I go thru there I imagine that someone in a black jogging outfit s going to yell “Runner!” and start shooting fireballs at me. 
I think that it is just to distract you from the fact that it is very long and boring.
Perhaps a Detroit resident can fill in the details; until then, I’ll give my WAG.
I’m fairly sure the effects were intentional and designed/built that way, and my guess is that it falls under the “public art” category. It’s reminiscent of the works from light artist James Turrell (but not quite similar enough, so I don’t think he did it), whose commissions include the tunnel connecting the old and new wings of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Evidently, tunnels with lighting effects are also quite the trend, and are built into several airports (scroll about halfway down) now.
An interesting tidbit I Googled up: the Detroit airport tunnel’s lighting system is based on LEDs.
Aha, here we go – an article from Architectural Lighting:
There’s also a blurb from the lighting contractors.
There’s a similar funky tunnel connecting terminals 1 and 2 at O’hare