The Bird-Shaped Lishui Airport Is Set To Open At The End Of This Year In China

MAD Architects is known for their innovative creations and mind-boggling structures. They never play safe and create designs that are boring and limited, and their latest construction the upcoming Lishui Airport will be finished in the forested area of China Zhejiang Province. The airport resembles a massive white bird that is about to embark on flight!

Designer: MAD Architects

The Lishui Aiport will be completed at the end of 2024, and currently, there is still a lot of work to be done, before it looks anywhere close to these renders. MAD said that Lishui is a ‘forest city’ in the southwest Zhejiang Province, and it is known for its stunning greenery and valleys. “Its first airport is positioned as a domestic regional airport with an anticipated annual passenger throughput of one million, located in the hilly terrain 15 kilometers [9.3 miles] southwest of the city.” MAD’s press release stated. The planning, design, and the entire process were curated to respect the original site, while also focusing on accessibility, an attempt to inspire tourism and highlight the beautiful characteristics of the mountain airport.

The structure will have a height of almost 79 feet, and it will occupy 130,000 square feet. The interior of the airport will feature an attractive curving wood finish and a massive central skylight. This will be paired with large windows, to maximize the natural light inside. The entire layout will be arranged to ensure easy travel, with the departure facilities located on the ground floor, to offer easy access, while the waiting areas will be located upstairs.

“Covering 2,267 hectares [roughly 5,600 acres] of land with a maximum fill height difference of nearly 100 meters [almost 330 ft], the airport adopts a large silver-white overhanging roof resembling a white-feathered bird ready to soar. The bird-like form absorbs the elevation changes and merges the airport into the mountains, making the airport a spiritual landmark in the region,” said MAD Architects. The airport will be able to accommodate almost 5 million passengers per year by 2030, with an additional international terminal being considered as an expansion too.

The post The Bird-Shaped Lishui Airport Is Set To Open At The End Of This Year In China first appeared on Yanko Design.

This sustainable “vertiport” powered by photovoltaic panels will use air taxis to boost eco-tourism!

It is 2021 and for some weird reason when we entered the 2000s we all dreamed now would be when we would have flying cars or “air taxis” if you want to make it sound more realistic. However, there is one thing we didn’t include in our imaginative stories, these flying cars or air taxis will pick us up and also land in specific places only unlike Uber or Lyft that comes right outside your door. Keeping the future and these logistical details in mind, Chinese air mobility company EHang announced plans for a “vertiport” in Italy called Baobab designed by Giancarlo Zema Design Group (GZDG). Baobab will be an innovative eco-sustainable vertiport that produces energy and recharge the drones wirelessly!

EHang is developing an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle which will be capable of picking up one to two passengers (initial model) then autonomously flying them to their destination. It is actually not a distant dream, EHang has actually already delivered 40 functioning air taxis to customers for testing, training, and demonstration purposes. So the company joined hands with GZDG to build a vertiport that has been inspired by the African baobab tree. The 30-meter-tall (98-ft) tower will have 360-degree windows and will be constructed from steel + laminated wood. The passengers will take an elevator to the platform for takeoff and landing on the roof terrace. Below the terrace, there is a waiting room as well as a 200 sq m (2,153 sq ft) panoramic restaurant that will offer views of the lush landscape. The vertiport will feature several photovoltaic panels that will generate over 300 kilowatts of power per day. On the roof, there are green areas with seats and three landing areas for electric drones that are recharged wirelessly from the landing pad floor which will feature some of the non-slip photovoltaic panels integrated with LED lights for night lighting and signage.  Baobab, the three independent plug-and-play charging stations, and two-passenger EH216 eVTOLs will run on the power provided by clean energy.

Baobab is a vertiport designed with the intention of boosting the eco-tourism industry – air taxis will pick passengers up at the tower and take them on sightseeing tours of the surrounding countryside. While the exact location for this project is yet to be announced, the EHang is already working on additional structures for Europe and Southeast Asia.

Designer:Giancarlo Zema Design Group

This award-winning sustainable airport is a multimodal structure capable of purifying air!

Air travel has taken a backseat this year which has given designers and architects a good amount of time to think of how they can spruce up airports while also making them more sustainable for a better future. Fentress Architects hosted their annual Global Challenge which is a student design competition running since 2011. The Fentress Global Challenge represents the company’s commitment to advancing innovative design in public architecture and attracts young talent from around the world. This year’s winner was The Green Gateway — a zero-emission multimodal airport by Nikhil Bang and Kaushal Tatiya.

The students from Southern California Institute of Architecture transform India’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi into a sustainable and culturally engaging hub that is also capable of purifying the air. The idea was to design a structure that can reduce the environmental impact of air travel while enhancing mobility across New Delhi which is the capital of India and one of the most polluted cities in the world. The Green Gateway proposes a future where airports are more than buildings and let the passengers connect with the site through every element of the structure. The concept has been envisioned for a future where flying cars are the norm and that means a drastic increase in domestic air travel. “As a result, we redesigned the existing terminal as a hub for six air-purifying dual-purpose towers scattered throughout New Delhi. Indoor greenery, an abundance of daylight, and arched architecture visually unite the buildings in this decentralized system,” said Bang and Tatiya.

Using sustainable design strategies to create a zero-emission concept, the structure features a decentralized system of one central terminal and six towers dispersed throughout the city – this will help regulate the purification process evenly throughout the area used by flying vehicles. These towers work as air-purifying centers as well as docking stations for the cars. Now while it may reduce domestic flights, it is increasing the vehicles in the air so to have the impact the designers wish for, the flying cars will have to be zero-emissions too. Elon, are you listening?

Designers: Nikhil Bang and Kaushal Tatiya from the Southern California Institute of Architecture

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