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| Top Ten Chinese modern architecture |
| Essential
Architecture- Peking Beijing International Airport |
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architect |
Foster & Partners. |
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location |
Beijing / Peking, China |
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date |
Under construction, to be completed in late 2007 |
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style |
modern |
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construction |
steel concrete |
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type |
International Airport |
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| A plan of the airport. Terminal 3 is a centerpiece project for the 2008 Olympics and is designed to relieve the overloaded airport's other two terminals. | |
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| August 23 2007: Two workers mop the floor
of the hall of the newly-built Terminal 3 Photograph: Victor Liu/EPA |
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| September 12 2007: The huge interior will
have 64 restaurants and 84 shops Photograph: Wong Maye-E/AP |
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| December 24 2007: The new terminal uses
traditional colours and state-of-the-art technology Photograph: 3CSPA/NewSport/Corbis |
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| February 16 2008: Six international and
domestic airlines will begin operating in the terminal on Friday February
29, while others will switch over from the other two terminals in March 2008 February 16 2008: The expansion cost a reported 27 billion yuan ($3.65billion) Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images |
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| February 16 2008: It took just under four years to build the terminal, its runway and most of the related infrastructure | |
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| February 16 2008: Visitors walk past decoration featuring nine dragons | |
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| February 16 2008: Workers clean the floor in the Ground Transportation Centre (GTC), connecting the Beijing airport light railway line | |
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| February 16 2008: A high-speed commuter train will whisk passengers into the city | |
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| February 16 2008: Staff members clean the
roof of the Ground Transportation Centre Photographs: China Photos/Getty Images |
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| February 16 2008: A staff member checks the baggage reclaim belt | |
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| February 23 2008: The terminal is 'a safe
and efficient non-competition venue for the much anticipated Beijing
Olympics games,' said Dong Zhiyi, deputy general manager of the Capital
Airport Holding Co ahead of the terminal's opening Photograph: AP |
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According to the U.S. Embassy to China, the country will be building 108
new airports between 2004 and 2009 -- including what will be the world's
largest: the Beijing International Airport, designed by Foster &
Partners. Set to open at the end of 2007, in time for the Beijing
Olympics in 2008, the airport terminal will cover more than 1 million
square meters, giving it a bigger footprint than the Pentagon.
It's designed to handle 43 million passengers a year initially and 55 million by 2015, figures that will probably push the new facility into the ranks of the top 10 busiest airports, going by the 2004 numbers from the Airports Council International. Given the scale and traffic, Foster & Partners focused on the traveler's experience, making sure that walking distances are short, for instance. Building on Foster's experience designing Hong Kong's new mega-airport, the massive Chek Lap Kok, the sprawling Beijing terminal is housed under a single roof. To help passengers distinguish between different sections of the vast space, skylights cast different shades of yellow and red light across walls -- a subtle but innovative navigational aid. The architects also kept sustainability in mind: An environmental-control system reduces carbon emissions, and skylights situated on a south-east axis lessen solar heat, keeping the building cool. |
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links |
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| www.essential-architecture.com | |