SWITZERLAND. Well-known Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto has won Zürich Airport’s pioneering architectural contest for “˜The Circle’.
As reported, The Circle is one of the world’s most ambitious airport real estate projects. In January 2009 Zürich Airport announced a high-quality building development for innovative services called “˜The Circle at Zürich Airport’, featuring a utilisable area of around 200,000sq m, within walking distance of the terminal.
The project involves an investment of around SFR1 billion (US$860 million).
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An artist’s impression of The Circle, as conceptualised by winning Japanese architects Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop |
The airport company then called an international architectural contest to define The Circle project. The Japanese architects Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop triumphed in a field of 90 high-calibre candidates from 12 countries.
The winning concept will continue to be developed within a preparatory study in order to fit Zürich Airport’s remit, especially with regards to profitability, design and functionality.
Zürich Airport said that the project developed by Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop is “characterized primarily by Swiss understatement and high atmospheric quality derived from the eloquence of its compact urban format”.
Public exhibition
The projects of the 15 short-listed architects are being shown publicly at Zürich Airport daily between 12-7pm. On exhibition are also the four other finalists:
– Asymptote Architecture (US)
– Dürig AG (Schweiz)
– Xaveer De Geyter (Belgien)
– Zaha Hadid Architects (UK)
For more information, visit www.thecircle.ch
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