8.5 Billion USD Investment, the Most Competitive Biddings for O’Hare International Airport
8.5 Billion USD Investment, the Most Competitive Biddings for O’Hare International Airport
An airport is the ‘Name Card’ of the city, a hard power showcased to the world. An international competition is currently underway in Chicago for bidding of O’Hare Airport reconstruction with five tenderers survived for the final run. All these are top famous designing firms across the globe: Santiago Calatrava, Foster + Partners, SOM, Studio ORD, Fentress+EXP+Brook+Garza.
Supernatural fighting, who’s going to win? Let’s take a look!
01
A giant bird airport with wings
Design of Santiago Calatrava
The building is like a lightweight bird with graceful structure, the designing style of Calatrava.
To be built on its hexagonal base by adding a missing corner, the overall form of the airport will be incarnated into a dynamic giant bird ready to fly.
The roof at the building’s entrance is stretched outwards to form a canopy, well-adjusted to an architectural whole bringing convenience to the passengers.
The interior structures are aligned neatly and deeply inward, letting the whole atrium fill with a good sense of spatial order.
The scheme’ most striking feature is that this terminal offers all operational services to the passengers, including security check, boarding, taking off, landing and baggage claim etc.
The breakthrough design of this independent terminal lies in its functional and spatial layout perceivable by sight, thus to facilitate passengers.
And this means a removal of the existing functional arrangements of the airport, in addition to the plan’s not too low cost. Let’s see if Chicago Government is the real fan of Calatrava.
02
A large-span cave airport
Design of Foster + Partners, Epstein and Moreno
The joint effort of Foster + Partners, Epstein, Moreno, to create a manmade scenery in Chicago – the cave airport.
With simplistic design for the architectural surface, the ceiling is made of iron beams and joists with glasses in between.
Three gigantic white arches are combined into one, curved gracefully looking from outside, and resembling a huge cave from inside.
I came to design this project with my love in flight and for this city. The energy of this city, as well as its extraordinary geographical location, musical culture and outdoor sculptures are all attractive to me, said Foster.
03
Wave ceiling airport
Designed by SOM
Plain design, with lights glimmered from its rooftop, casts an inclusive feeling of being self-sufficient.
Solidity is a label of SOM, an old US brand.
Some critics said that given a low roof in the design, it looks like a curved waffle.
Facing the critic’s assertion, SOM responded quiet business-like: this design is guaranteed not to exceed the government budget, a kind of insinuation against someone in this remark.
Entering waffle terminal is a big space at the height of two floors. The passengers may experience some romantic feelings sheer different from outside.
Wave-like undulating ceiling, plus diffuse skylights, jointly create a kind of dynamically spatial sensation.
With structural columns and undulating large-span roof, it looks as if there were a large forest inside, a historical memory of orchards in this land before.
There are indeed many greeneries indoors, to redefine the way to look at plantations at the airport that are bound to be varied with seasons.
There are also some spaces for fitness and meditation, which is the very first one among traffic hubs in USA.
04
Wooden structure airport with thorns
Designed by Studio ORD
Looking afar, it has slashing lines conjuring up a tri-conical flying saucer with thorns.
The designer is Studio ORD from Chicago with home advantage.
Tri-conical shape will largely enhance the airport’s traffic efficiency and connectivity.
The direction of these wooden structural folds implies functional orientations for the passengers.
The roof span has 100 feet, propped up by Y-shaped structural columns, which can ensure spatial flexibility.
Studio ORD likes to adopt nature as its design concept. Its scheme uses wooden structures as the ceiling’s framework, instead of cold irons.
Using woods is to embody the great nature, as well as improve the thermal insulation of the terminal building and reduce its energy consumption,
05
Mountain ranges airport
Designed by Fentress+EXP+Brook+Garza
Designed jointly by Fentress+EXP+Brook+Garza, it has a sense of ‘Déjà vu’ for a simplified Calatrava’s design at the first glance.
Bright strip dormer roof and large glass façade allow the whole airport bathing in the natural light.
Its advantage is quite obvious, lower cost than Calatrava’s design.
06
Whether a city is cool or not depends on its airport!
Previously, there is Beijing Daxing International Airport, one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’, fantastically stunning!
△ Bird’s-eye view of Beijing Daxing International Airport
Then, there comes Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore, filled with unbelievable imaginations!
△ Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore
The airport is the face of a city, to be watched by the whole world. It is not jut a traffic hub, but an urban paradise.
△ Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore
Just like Rem Koolhaas, an incurable urban-study addict, wrote in his Generic City:
Airport is the simplest and the most individualistic factor in a generic city, a symbol imprinted in the aggregation of the world. The trend of airport development is becoming increasingly self-contained, and sometimes, it exists on its own without the city. They are replacing the cities, and becoming the reasons for existence of generic cities.
△ Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore
People will no longer buy the concept as ‘Form follows Function’ in the traditional architecture. Only the new forms of rapid sensory stimulation can set as a model and impress the masses
A city wishing to fly starts with its airport design.
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[Images via Milan Shejizhilv]
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