These 7 Airport Structures Will Wow Travelers This Summer
The summer travel season is about to kick off and a record number of travelers are expected to take to the skies. Airlines for America expects about 234 million passengers to fly on U.S. airlines this summer, which means plenty of travelers will visit various airports around the world. We took a look at some of the most architecturally stunning airports around the world. Check out seven of them below.
Singapore Changi Airport, Terminal 3
Changi Airport’s Terminal 3 offers so many amenities that it may be hard to leave Singapore. There is a movie theater, a butterfly garden, a playground and a four-story slide. The terminal, designed by CPG Corp. and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, contains 919 skylights and reflector panels that control the amount of light entering the terminal. The skylights glow at night through concealed lighting below the panels. The terminal also features a five-story vertical garden spanning 1,000 feet along the side of the building.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport
This airport in Malaysia, designed by Kisho Kurakowa, incorporates surrounding green space, and an entire section of the rainforest was transplanted into the satellite building terminal. A central boardwalk allows travelers to walk through the rainforest. The main terminal was designed with hyperbolic paraboloid shells reminiscent of Islamic domes.
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, Terminal 4
Terminal 4 of Spain’s main airport was designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers as part of a 2006 renovation project. The design uses glass-paneled walls to provide additional light, a wavy roof constructed of bamboo beams and rainbow pillars that change color as travelers walk through the terminal.
Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, Terminal 2
This Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed terminal in Winnipeg was the first freestanding building in Canada to become LEED certified. The building’s roof is punctuated with large skylights and windows to provide plenty of natural light. Advanced mechanical systems along with the natural lighting help reduce energy consumption. Stantec collaborated on the terminal’s design.
Kansai International Airport
This airport was built on a man-made island off the coast of Osaka, Japan, and has become a hub for international and domestic flights. The Renzo Piano-designed airport looks like a fuselage and has corridors that extend out like wings.
Denver International Airport
The Elrey Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International Airport features a peaked roof designed by Curtis Fentress that was meant to echo the snow-capped mountains and the early days of Colorado when Native American teepees blanketed the Great Plains. The terminal is about to undergo a massive renovation that is expected to increase the speed of Transportation Security Adminstration security checkpoints, rework the main floor, consolidate the ticket counters and provide additional concessions.
FAA Tower at San Francisco International Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration Tower at San Francisco International Airport stands out from other FAA towers, which are not often known for their architectural features. Fentress Architects designed the 220-foot-tall, $102M tower to fit within San Francisco’s skyline. The twisting tower is designed to withstand a severe 8.0-magnitude earthquake and was constructed with eco-friendly materials and solar panels and is LEED Gold certified.
