Tulips, associated with Turkish culture, were reflected in the design by Pininfarina / Aecom.

all images courtesy of iGA

World-renowned figures competed to design Istanbul New Airport’s “Air Traffic Control Unit”. AECOM and Pininfarina won the competition with a design inspired by tulips. Results are announced for Istanbul New Airport’s Air Traffic Control Tower concept design competition organized by İGA to address leading global designers. AECOM and Pininfarina, a prominent company on a global scale, will design the new Air Traffic Control Tower.

The ATC Tower that is inspired by tulips and designed by AECOM and Pininfarina will contribute much to the Istanbul New Airport with its iconic character,” said Yusuf Akçayoğlu, CEO at İGA. He continued: “Istanbul New Airport is recognized as one of world’s biggest aviation hub projects, and it will crown Turkey’s role in the international aviation sector. Therefore, we intended to decide on the ATC Tower’s design – an essential part of the Airport – through an international competition. The most significant companies within the industry participated in the competition with best designs. After a difficult selection process, we preferred the concept tower design that resembles tulips, created by AECOM and Pininfarina. The construction will commence next May. We are planning to have it completed it by October 2017.”

AECOM and Pininfarina’s design evokes aerodynamic forms featured in automotive and aviation design, and includes an elliptic tower that will be visible for all passengers in and out of the new airport. The tower’s shape is inspired by tulips, which have been associated with Istanbul for centuries and represented a significant cultural reference in Turkish history. Jennifer Dixon, AECOM’s Head of Architecture, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, commented as follows: “In the competition, we intended to bring together dynamism and romance of Pininfarina’s architectural style influenced by automotive design and AECOM’s aviation architecture capabilities. AECOM and Pininfarina teams have created a totally functional and beautiful work that will intensify the excitement and glamour of air travels at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.” “Pure and iconic beauty combined with innovation” 

“As part of the competition, we intended to combine AECOM’s corporate architecture and engineering skills with the expertise of another design industry. We aimed to bring Pininfarina’s values grounded in tradition and craftsmanship to the aviation world, and thereby produced a work that combines pure iconic beauty with true innovation,” stated Bernardo Gogna, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Aviation, AECOM.

Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of Pininfarina, said: “The Istanbul New Airport’s ATC is an iconic building, destined to become a landmark for Istanbul. Our aim, as with all our projects, was to develop a bespoke idea that embodied our partner’s design identity while at the same time bringing a new aesthetic perspective. By leveraging the unique combination of our 85 years’ experience in design – from cars to superyachts and luxury products to furniture – with our architectural knowledge gained from several global projects, we have been able to create a technologically advanced structure of distinctive character.”

Istanbul Grand Airport will be built in stages with the first phase expected to open in 2018, designed by Grimshaw, Nordic Office of Architecture and Haptic Architects.

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