Location: Changchun Airport, China

Architect: MAD Architects

Changchun Airport’s new terminal will be the first international air transportation junction there, and MAD Architects has newly unveiled their winning design that will be built. An international competition for the design of Changchun “Longjia” International Airport Terminal 3 in China was won by MAD Architects, under the direction of Ma Yansong, in association with China Airport Planning & Design Institute Co., Ltd. and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Co., Ltd.

The terminal building’s goal in both its exterior and interior design was to give the airport a more welcoming, human-scaled space. Visitors will be welcomed by the terminal’s distinctive fan-shaped profile that resembles a floating feather as they approach from the high-speed rail “Longjia” Station or the parking structure — a homage to the airplanes that will be ascending and descending from its terminals throughout the day.

The terminal will attempt to maintain a generally harmonious layout in its linkages to the T1 and T2 terminal areas while increasing the amount of passenger seats close to the aircrafts by implementing a three-fingered corridor structure encircled by arcs. Passengers entering the terminal will find a spacious, uninterrupted ground level that offers direct access to the subway, the car road, and other modes of transit linking the station to the broader complex.