Light Canopy

A STRAIGHT SKY IS DEPLOYING ABOVE TERMINAL 2 OF THE CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OF MUMBAI.

With a view to the emergence of the city as the financial capital of India, the airport's existing infrastructure has been unable to sustain the growing volume of national and global traffic. Architects at the Skidmore agency, Owings & Merrill, have increased their capacity by five times. An immaculate "Headhouse" of white displays the entrance - which is made by the fourth floor - while the back is unfolded an elongated X-plane, connected on all sides to planes ready to take off. In a play of undulating symmetry, columns unfold form a horizontal roof that seems to extend to infinity. The long-range capacities of the steel lattice structure allow the spacing of thirty columns of 40 meters, clearing monumental spaces, making the hall highly adaptable and modular. Reflecting on the floor but also in the longest glass wall in the world, 15 meters high, the interior and exterior columns meet. In the twilight, small colored glass discs embedded in the geometrically shaped boxes illuminate the terminal. Inspired by the shape of traditional Indian pavilions, and referring to the peacock, the national bird, the airport pops up from the urban landscape of Mumbai. The infrastructure celebrates both the richness of India's heritage and the future of the country.