Adding another mega-terminal to China’s aviation landscape, theShenzhen Airport Authority announced it has selected Rome-based FuksasArchitects, run by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, to design the newTerminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport.

In a banner year that saw Beijing open its enormous NormanFoster-designed Terminal 3, and Shanghai its new Terminal 2 at PudongInternational Airport {designed by East China Architectural Design& Research Institute}, Fuksas’s expansion will make the Shenzhenairport the fourth-largest in China. {Not surprisingly, Shenzhen is thefourth largest city in China.} To be completed in phases, with thefirst portion to be done by 2015, and the last by 2035, the 4.3 millionsquare-foot {400,000 square-meter} terminal will handle 40 millionpassengers a year. By comparison, Foster’s Beijing terminal handles 50million passengers in 10.8 million square feet {1 million squaremeters}.

The Fuksas scheme follows the airport’s master plan, arranging alarge check-in terminal with an expansive winglike roof on one side ofa structure that, in plan, resembles a cross and contains the departuregates. “We want to create a sense of quality of life inside theairport,” said Massimiliano Fuksas. “When you arrive at the terminalfrom the city, you’re enveloped by a departure hall that looks like ahuge fish. You check in, then there’s a metamorphosis. The fish becomesmore like a bird.” Apertures of various sizes cut through thebuilding’s meshlike skin, bringing in daylight and reducing the needfor electric lighting. A double-skin envelope hides mechanical systemsand helps modulate temperature swings and reduce energy usage.

Most of China’s 40-plus airports currently under construction havebeen designed by large corporate architecture firms, but the ShenzhenAirport authority cast a wide net for its design competition, invitingan eclectic roster of firms that included Foreign Office Architects,Reiser + Umemoto, von Gerkan Marg and Partner, Foster and Partners, andthe late Kisho Kurokawa, who passed away last October.