MAD models Lishui Airport in China on mist-covered hills

Misty landscapes and birds in flight were visual references for this sculptural silver-white airport terminal, completed by Chinese studio MAD near the city of Lishui.

Now officially open to passengers, Lishui Airport is nestled within a low mountain range 15 kilometres southwest of the city in the coastal province of Zhejiang, China.

While Lishui Airport's site spans 2,267 hectares, the curved terminal building itself encompasses 12,000 square metres. It has eight aircraft parking bays and will accommodate up to one million domestic passengers annually.

MAD said the terminal itself has a deliberately compact design, but that it is designed to feel airy and comfortable inside, thanks to a warm wood-lined interior.

"We used materials with warm tones and natural textures to create a bright and airy interior," said the studio's founder Ma Yansong.

"By adopting a one and a half story layout, the airport remains compact, while supporting daily comfort and engaging in a dialogue with nature."

According to MAD, the goal was for the terminal to feel as though it is part of the mountainous site, with its roof clad in silver-white aluminium panels to "respond to changing light and weather".

"The roofline evokes the imagery of mist-covered hills and birds in flight, allowing the architecture to register as part of the broader landscape rather than an isolated object," said the studio.

The one-and-a-half-story airport was designed in 2008, with completion wrapping up after 17 years.

According to MAD, it was one of the "most topographically complex airport projects in East China" due to significant earthworks required to level the site.

Fourteen umbrella-shaped structural columns support the sculptural, lightweight roof, which is punctured by a long skylight.

This skylight illuminates the terminal in tandem with curtain walls, which also frame views of the surrounding mountains.

Completing the terminal is a sunken car park, a landscaped central promenade below the building and a double-height entrance hall that links the ground-floor arrival spaces with the upper-level departure lounge.

In the future, the number of annual passengers is expected to increase to 1.8 million by 2030 and to five million by 2050 when an international terminal is set to be added.

MAD was founded by Yansong in Beijing in 2004. The completion of Lishui Airport follows its opening of the Fenix museum in Rotterdam, where it created a pair of giant staircases designed as a "living room for people".

Elsewhere in China, the studio is also designing the feather-like Terminal 3 at Changchun Longjia International Airport and the snowflake-shaped Harbin Airport Terminal Three.

The video is by Blackstation and the photography is by CreatAR Images unless stated otherwise.

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