9 Striking Airline Terminals That Inspire Travel
When you think about traveling in style, visions of first-class perks and luxe luggage typically come to mind. Some design-conscious airline terminals, however, bring new meaning to the phrase. With exceptional, modern façades and futuristic, user-friendly terminals, these architectural marvels can make any layover more interesting. The brilliant structures are almost destinations in themselves, rivaling local modern architecture and offering a host of amenities. With so much to do and so much to see in one spectacular location, the days of boring flight delays and baggage carousels are becoming a thing of the past. From Singapore to the Republic of Georgia, these nine designer airports are about to make your travels even more momentous.
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Photo: Autoban1/17Baku Airport, as it’s informally called, is one of six international airports in Azerbaijan, serving an estimated six million passengers per year. The sleek and imaginative terminal designs invite an introduction to the city of Baku, often underestimated for its modern architecture and cosmopolitan way of life.
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Photo: Autoban2/17In 2014, a 700,000-square-foot terminal created by Istanbul-based Autoban Studio was opened to the public. The design includes large wooden cocoons that house various kiosks and luxury amenities, intended to bridge the gap between art and architecture.
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Photo: Getty Images3/17Acting as a major access point to the rest of Southeast Asia, Singapore Changi Airport is both a travel hub and design destination. Although each of its terminals has something special to offer, Terminal Three—devised by international architecture firm, SOM—is made up of spectacular glass and aluminum interiors that use advanced technology to diffuse sunlight during the day and reflect artificial light at night to lower cooling costs.
Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images4/17The terminal has enough activities to fill even the longest layover, such as visiting a number of greenhouses that house a 100-species cactus garden and a butterfly garden, pay-per-use lounges, and interactive art installations.
Photo: ©Nakanimamasakhlisi5/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-01-kutaisi-international-airport.jpg
Dutch firm UNStudio designed this dynamic, 129,000-square-foot terminal as part of its master plan for Kutaisi International Airport, a new hub serving a fast-growing number of passengers in the Republic of Georgia. Bright red metal panels on one end of the steel-frame structure create a vivid focal point along the glazed façade.
Photo: ©Nakanimamasakhlisi6/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-02-kutaisi-international-airport.jpg
A network of wood beams spreads across the ceilings above waiting areas.
Photo: Nigel Young, courtesy of Foster + Partners7/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-03-queen-aliah-international-airport.jpg
Designed by London-based Foster + Partners, Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan, is capped by a hivelike poured-concrete canopy that covers the entire 1.24-million-square-foot Y-shaped terminal.
Photo: Nigel Young, courtesy of Foster + Partners8/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-04-queen-aliah-international-airport.jpg
Inspired by the billowing form of Bedouin tents, this tessellated roofscape shades interior spaces against the desert sun while bringing in natural illumination via a number of skylights.
Photo: © Archivio Fuksas9/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-05-shenzhen-bao-an-international-airport.jpg
Set in one of China’s fastest-growing cities, the new Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport is the first phase in a multiyear project being overseen by the Italian architecture firm Studio Fuksas. A honeycomb motif marks the massive steel structure, which is characterized by a tubular central volume from which two spurlike wings extend. The perforated, double-layer skin allows for an interesting play of light and shadow inside the cavernous ticketing and waiting areas.
Photo: © Leonardo Finotti10/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-06-shenzhen-bao-an-international-airport.jpg
An aerial view of the terminal reveals its great size and unique shape, which, the architects say, was inspired by the form of a manta ray.
Photo: Nigel Young, courtesy of Foster + Partners11/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-07-spaceport-america.jpg
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the New Mexico desert, Spaceport America (also designed by Foster + Partners) is the world’s first private hangar for commercial space travel. Built into the surrounding terrain according to a plan meant to help the project achieve LEED Platinum certification, the concrete-and-steel structure appears to emerge from the ground.
Photo: Nigel Young, courtesy of Foster + Partners12/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-08-spaceport-america.jpg
Inside, a mission-control station and an area for astronaut training give way to a vast hangar, which houses a space simulation room and suborbital spacecraft.
Photo: Yuri Molodkovets13/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-10-pulkovo-international-airport.jpg
A faceted ceiling comprising dozens of gold-hued metal panels soars over the public spaces in a new terminal for Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, created by a team that included the U.K.’s Grimshaw Architects (as concept architect), the Danish engineering and architecture firm Ramboll (as lead design consultants), and the London design firm Pascall+Watson (as executive architects).
Photo: Yuri Molodkovets14/17dam-images-architecture-2014-08-airport-architecture-airport-architecture-09-pulkovo-international-airport.jpg
The long, low-lying form is the country’s third-largest airport, accommodating 12 million passengers a year.
15/17For Terminal 3 at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, Japanese creative lab Designers at Party devised a system of running-track lanes to guide travelers to their destinations. The design is particularly fitting as the city prepares to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
16/17The newly opened Ashgabat International Airport in Turkmenistan takes inspiration for its design from two of the country's national symbols: a falcon and the bow of Oguz Khan, a legendary historic figure. Dutch firm Ibelings van Tilburg Architecten designed the structure, which can host 14 million passengers per year.
17/17The ornate departures hall leads to the central concourse, which includes an airside hotel and star-shaped food court.
