ABSTRACT
Norman Foster describes the importance of experiential qualities of architecture and the goal to reinvent concepts like an airport in such a way that experience of an airport will be uplifting. For Queen Alia International Airport, specialist group worked with the multidisciplinary team to develop modeling strategies, constructability rationalization and fabrication support. Given plans to phase growth of Stansted, architects decided to use a modular system, which proved highly influential for later projects, including the Queen Alia International Airport. The systematic approach was also critical for creating the kind of flexibility that had proven so successful in Stansted Airport. As Parr points out, 'Airports, like many infrastructure projects, respond to need at given time, but they have to be flexible'. The form of Queen Alia International Airport has been compared to desert palms and Bedouin tents that give the structure a feeling of place as the openings in shells provide natural light, reducing energy loads for lighting the large terminal.
