Take-off: Pininfarina in Istanbul

The New Istanbul Airport (INA), designed to become the largest new airport in terms of annual passenger capacity has been inaugurated. The structure will initially be able to accommodate up to 90 million passengers a year. It will rise in the European part of the city, at 35 kilometers from the centre on a site near the Black Sea. Subsequently, the airport is expected to expand reaching the final capacity of 200 million passengers per year.

The architecture is embellished by the Air Traffic Control Tower, which won the won the prestigious International Architecture Award 2016, was designed by Pininfarina and AECOM. The 360° view of the air traffic controllers is guaranteed through a glazing designed to optimize irradiation and acoustic comfort.

The tower, flagship of the structure, is in fact inspired by the tulip, for many centuries a symbol of Istanbul and an important cultural reference in Turkish history. The shapes of this flower have been redesigned and reinterpreted through Pininfarina’s identity, based on its profound knowledge in automotive design, wind tunnel modelling and on the strong influence inherited from aerodynamic shapes used in aeronautical design.

The elliptical shape of the tower seems to be sculpted by the wind and influences all aspects of the form and geometry of the technical building below. The references to the local architecture are again found inside the structure: the central atrium, for example, has a bespoke skylight, typical of Turkish historic buildings, realized to fill the spaces through a bright mosaic light.

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