Project Details
- Project Name
- Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 3 Proposal
- Location
- Taoyuan, Taiwan
- Architect
- UNStudio
- Client/Owner
- Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
- Project Types
- Transportation
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 4,240,421 sq. feet
- Shared by
- Selin Ashaboglu
- Team
- UNStudio: Ben van Berkel; Caroline Bos; Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen; Mo Lai; Martin Zangerl; Marc Salemink and Sontaya Bluangtook; Tiia Vahula; Ryszard Rychlicki; Luke Tan; Nick Roberts; Lars van Hoften; Daniele De Benedictis; Samuel Liew; Fan Wang; Angela Huang
- Project Status
- Concept Proposal
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Friday 30 October 2015, UNStudio’s design
for Terminal 3 of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was awarded 2nd prize
amongst the shortlisted competitors Rogers Stirk Harbour and Fosters +
Partners. Terminal 3 at Taoyuan airport is planned to accommodate 45
million passengers a year. UNStudio’s design challenges the accepted
utilitarian approach to airport design in an effort to propose a new global
standard for an efficient, sustainable, flexible and innovative terminal model.
The
airport typology revisited
With a
core team, comprising Bio-Architecture Formosana from Taipei, April Yang
Design Studio from Ohio, and a multidisciplinary consultant team—UNStudio
reexamines the airport typology through careful analysis of the existing
terminals at Taoyuan, whilst anticipating airport operational requirements,
infrastructure and the spatial constraints of the site.
Using personal travel experience as a starting point, UNStudio felt that in
recent times airport architecture has become rigidly prescribed as a typology
with excessive and monotonous use of space. Michael Speaks (jury member and
Dean and Professor at Syracuse University) stressed that 'UNStudio offered the most innovative
design concept'. He expressed that 'the entire jury agreed that
UNStudio's airport design was the one they would want to experience most'. With
‘place making’ at the central core of the design concept, UNStudio strived to
distinguish its design from a generic solution by designing for the users and
by creating an interior ecology that is entirely distinct from the look and
feel of comparable airports.
UNStudio’s
design is characterized by its efficiency, short walking distances and
optimized airport functions following the principles of natural wayfinding. A
small footprint and enough area for landsite construction allow for a quick
building assembly with a prefabrication strategy. All of which contribute to a
simple, fast paced, sustainable and effective implementation of the overall
design strategy.
Place
making at terminal scale
The
terminal building is characterised by short walking distances, minimal level
changes and intuitive way-finding.
Ben van Berkel: “The
building design provides a clear organisation that offers passengers high
efficiency, while satisfying the need for physical convenience and comforts.”
In UNStudio’s design the concept of ‘place making’ is achieved through the
creation of a sequence of spaces that privilege comfort, ease of use and
orientation. The different spaces, micro climates, are defined by physical
conditions related to daylight, humidity, temperature and air flow
corresponding to the predominant use of such zones, whereas the plants, media,
art and Taiwanese culture constitute the integral components of these different
zones. In UNStudio’s proposal for Terminal 3, the architecture is
responsive to all environmental constraints, and an outer and inner
shell work in concert with one another to ensure the optimum performance
of all spaces.
Place
making at airport scale
The new
aviation hub will be the gateway for Taiwan and the Aerotropolis. By locating
the main entrance of the terminal building at the south-west end of the site,
in UNStudio’s proposal the main entrance of Terminal 3 has been designed to
become the most visually prominent facade for the Taoyuan airport.
Ben van Berkel: “With the
aim of the client to be amongst the top of the international airports in the
region, it was necessary to develop a concept that conflates functionality,
atmosphere and flexibility - an airport that is sustainable from the get go.”
In
UNStudio’s design the experience of the journey starts from the outside of the
terminal building. The undulating roof guides the public to the various
entrances.
It is
through attention to detail across all scales that UNStudio’s design for
Terminal 3 achieves a holistic design approach. The place making strategy
enables the simultaneous effect of appeal to the user and as a consequence, to
the stakeholders within the airport industry.