The New Terminal 3 of Changchun Airport's Winning Design Has Been Unveiled by MAD Architects

China’s new terminal 3 of Changchun Airport winning design has been recently revealed by MAD architects, featuring a broad and sweeping roofline. The new terminal perfectly reflects the airport’s fluid lines and airy interior architecture.

When finished, the new terminal 3 of Changchun Airport will have 54 aircraft gates capable of handling 22 million people annually, making it the busiest air transportation junction in Changchun and all of Jilin Province, one of the early manufacturing industrial metropolises in China.

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“The future large-scale transportation junction is first and foremost a vital public area in the city,” remarked Ma Yansong, founder of MAD architects. “The values of art, synthesis, diversity, and humanity are indispensable.”

Terminal 3 of Changchun Airport’s Concept

The new terminal of Changchun airport by MAD Architects brings a sense of tranquility to the airport, both from afar and up close. The terminal’s fan-shaped appearance, resembling a floating feather, is visible from the high-speed rail “Longjia” Station and the parking structure and is a tribute to the airplanes arriving and departing from its terminals daily.

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The Terminal 3 of Changchun Airport will increase the number of seats near the aircraft by using a three-fingered passageway encircled by arcs. This layout will preserve an aesthetically pleasing arrangement in its linkages to the T1 and T2 terminal sections.

Passengers entering the terminal will find a spacious, continuous ground floor leading directly to the subway, vehicle road, and other transit links that connect the terminal to the broader complex.

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Gardens of Prosperity Will Dot The New Terminal

Changchun, nicknamed the “Garden City,” inspired the architects to design the airport to incorporate beautiful greenery within terminal 3 of Changchun airport. Travelers will see a lot of trees, lakes, grasslands, and hills as they get closer to the terminal, and once inside, they’ll find a “cold zone garden” with plants and water elements that are indigenous to the area.

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The departure hall’s feather-shaped ceiling lets in plenty of sunlight, making the interior and the gardens inside it feel airy and welcoming.

The building’s framework mirrors the skin’s rhythmic pattern, pointing in the direction of the force transmission and directing visitors toward the atrium’s skylights. The organic roof and skylights above are in harmony with the unusual timber ceiling, which adds vibrancy to the interiors.

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The design team remarked, “Our approach to green design on such a small scale at the terminal is a reaction to the ageless human urge for connecting to human and plant life equally, all inside a shape as airy and bright as a feather floating in the breeze.”

China Airport Planning & Design Institute and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design worked together on the plan for the new terminal 3 of Changchun airport. With a footprint of 177.6 hectares and a total construction area of 270,000 square meters, the airport in Changchun City, one of the early manufacturing industrial metropolises in China’s northeastern region and home to 23 million people, would be the largest in Jilin Province.