Airport Cloud-Chengdu Airport Demonstration Center

“Airport Cloud” is a project in Chengdu Airport Business District, the overall iconic form of the building is termed as “cloud”, an implicit metaphor that responds to the imagined image of this building next to the airport. The suspended form reconciles with the artistic concept of "cloud" architecture, and provides visitors with an ideal space to watch plane landing and taking off, as if they were standing in the clouds. The horizontal extension of the building is reinforced by horizontal metal louvre panels, and the cloud pattern is transformed to digital form using parametric design. The varying widths of louvre panels render the light and airy beauty of “clouds” in the mixture of reality and imagination through the abstract architectural language. Notably this design reduces the excess heat from solar radiation, so that the entire building is conferred better energy efficiency. To enhance the perceived suspension of the main exhibition hall on the second floor, the empty structure on the bottom is presented in a decentralized manner, and the decorative poles with no bracing function weaken the bulkiness of the overall support structure. The scattered structural bars resemble drizzles hovering under the clouds, creating an aesthetic image of "floating clouds and drizzles". In the phase of master drawing design, the designer intends to create an urban vitality square under the clouds by enclosing the landscape grass slope, where certain activities such as jogging, running, open-air cinema and summer concerts can roll out here. To combine the building and the surrounding landscape as one piece and intensify the natural atmosphere, the water feature is arranged to the open space area underneath the building. Inspired by the inverted image of white thin columns on the water surface and the flowing water, the designer creates an art painting-like landscape highlighting the beauty of water and light.