ZERO-EMISSION AIRPORT CONCEPT

From over 100 student design submissions in more than 15 countries, The Green Gateway has won the 2020 international student design competition.

Hosted annually by Fentress Architects, the winning submission by Nikhil Bang and Kaushal Tatiya from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) transforms the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi into a sustainable and culturally responsive destination capable of purifying the air and stationing flying cars. The 2020 Fentress Global Challenge winners received a prize valued at $15,000.

Launched in 2011 to advance innovative student design in public architecture, the Fentress Global Challenge has attracted thousands of entries from over 75 countries since its inception. The 2020 brief asked participants to envision the future of aviation and airport terminal design for the year 2100. This year’s futuristic proposals were evaluated by seven jurors in fields from aviation to architecture with representatives from firms such as Richard Meier & Partners Architects and KRAMER aerotek.

Bang’s and Tatiya’s winning Green Gateway concept focuses on Indira Gandhi International Airport, the international aviation hub that serves the Indian capital as well as northern India. The design is built on the belief that flying cars will be made a reality by 2100 and can replace domestic flight as we know it. As a result, the students redesigned the existing terminal as a hub for six air-purifying towers scattered throughout New Delhi that will be used as modular platforms for air taxis. Indoor greenery, an abundance of daylighting and arched architecture visually unite the buildings in this decentralized system.

The students wrote, “[The Green Gateway is] zero-emission at the macro and micro level, improving mobility across the city by replacing domestic flight as one of the major sources of pollution and making air travel a personal affair.”

Images from Fentress Global Challenge via Inhabitat