OMA in the Middle East: Office for Metropolitan Architecture have designed a new international airport for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Located between Jeddah and Mecca, the airport will cater for the two million pilgrims who make the journey to Mecca during the holy Hajj period and features a special terminal for the Saudi Royal Family (top two images).
The main terminal is in the shape of a ring with an oasis at its centre and is configured to cope with a massive increase in visitor numbers during the Hajj, while the smaller Royal terminal echoes the form of the larger building.
Below is a statement from OMA:
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NEW JEDDAH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
For 33 days per year the new Jeddah Airport will host the influx of two million Muslims for the holy Hajj period in Mecca. No other airport in the world can claim such overwhelming specificity of its use. These programmatic requirements form the base for a new approach to both the organization of the airport and its architecture.
Predictability over indeterminacy
Airports come in two sizes: too big and too small. Fundamentally compromised by the necessity to accommodate unpredictable future expansions, airports are ultimately forced to ‘gamble’ on their right size. In terms of its design the airport is condemned to a permanent open end.
With the Hajj as one of the main defining elements, the new Jeddah International Airport presents a unique situation: its expansion is a given in advance, occurring at a fixed moment for a fixed length of time. This relative predictability allows the design of the Jeddah airport to acquire a level of specificity unheard of in a ‘regular’ airport: allowing the rehabilitation of the particular over the general, of centrality over linearity, and of character over blandness.
Arrival over departure
Airports are primarily places one leaves from. With the business trip and the vacation as the airport’s main, perhaps even only, use, the excitement of going away generally outweighs that of coming back.
This discrepancy is also expressed in the design of the airport, with departures generally located in a ‘grandiose space’ on top (mostly under a billowing roof) and arrivals located in a flat utilitarian luggage-collect-space below, making the first acquaintance with a new destination often one of disappointment.
The unique condition and purpose of the new Jeddah International Airport presents us with a compelling reason to consider arriving with the same consideration as leaving. (Mecca you don’t leave, to Mecca you go!)
The surface required by the Hajj equals that of the airport itself. Accommodating the Hajj theoretically means building the same volume twice, with one volume being empty for most of the year. In the current situation this is solved by having the Hajj section as a temporary structure in the form of a big tent.
Design Proposal.
The initial proposal resulted in six different schemes with an emblematic quality. The final design follows the organizing principal of ‘the ring’. Both the main terminal and Royal pavilion with their crescent-like shape enclose an internal oasis that can accommodate different forms of use. The layout of the airport is organized in such a way that Airport and Hajj become a single integrated whole without forcing the airport to double in size.
The design realizes departures and arrivals on the same level allowing both to benefit from the same spatial conditions. The realization of departure and arrival on a single level creates a large surface that equals that of the Hajj, allowing the Hajj to be accommodated on the same footprint as the airport itself. No longer realized as a separate section, the Hajj becomes the almost casual by-product of a particular airport design. The Hajj becomes the invisible twin that – at fixed moments – allows the airport to expand its size.
Project: International Airport for Jeddah
Status: Commission 2005
Client: Wthheld
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Site: Desert btween Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Program: New International Airport with Hadj facilities and royal family terminal
Partner: Rem Koolhaas
Associate: Fernando Donis
Team: Gustavo Guimarães, Laurent Troost, Miho Mazereeuw, Katrin Betschinger, Joshua Beck, Haiko Cornelissen, Léonie Wenz, Filipe Balestra, João Amaro, Inge Goudsmit, Joao Ruivo, Ben Milbourne, Tiago Branco-Sampaio
Project: International Airport for Jeddah
Status: Commission 2005
Client: Wthheld
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Site: Desert btween Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Program: New International Airport with Hadj facilities and royal family terminal
Partner: Rem Koolhaas
Associate: Fernando Donis
Team: Gustavo Guimarães, Laurent Troost, Miho Mazereeuw, Katrin Betschinger, Joshua Beck, Haiko Cornelissen, Léonie Wenz, Filipe Balestra, João Amaro, Inge Goudsmit, Joao Ruivo, Ben Milbourne, Tiago Branco-Sampaio
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Posted by Chantelle Lue
..first foto is the best..:))
July 19th, 2007 at 5:20 pm..second is better
July 19th, 2007 at 6:20 pmDAMM THEY GOT MONEY.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:37 pmMoney is not an issue for these guys. I know the ‘economical factor’ is about third or fourth in their list of priorities when judging an arch competition.
July 20th, 2007 at 10:20 pmwait till they see the price tag for all of those mile long escalators…
July 21st, 2007 at 7:21 pmthe second photo looks like a huge Marcel Wanders’ work.
July 22nd, 2007 at 2:32 amDo people really need such a fancy airport?
Yung, yes they do, or should every building be designed in its most efficient and most mundane way?
Come to Africa, and see what a place looks like where most things are done that way.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 amThank God there will be a nice big airport
July 24th, 2007 at 10:38 amBeautiful, who wouldn’t want end up here? REM couldn’t do his magic in NYC because everyone was so concerned with money. We got something watered down mundane and corporate looking.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:30 amamazing. beautiful design. love the concept of “arriving with the same consideration as leaving.(Mecca you don’t leave, to Mecca you go!)”. that’s what non-places need to be successful. intelligent approach to engage people within the space.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:45 ami can see many portuguese names in this team. as a portuguese designer i feel truly flattered. congratulations.
Amazing……
But, honestly, most of the people (Haji’s)
July 30th, 2007 at 9:51 pmwill find it difficult to cope with the
sophistication / Hitec arrangements…..
KIND OF INTERNAL DESGIN FOR MALL
July 31st, 2007 at 10:19 amTYPE THE CEILING FOR THE HALL
July 31st, 2007 at 10:21 amimages,images,images…an oasis inside…what a brilliant idea!
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:45 pmimagenes, imagenes, imagenes…un oasis adentro…que idea brillante!
Its really needed
August 8th, 2007 at 6:19 amThis will solve the current problem of crowd during the Haj and Umra seson
I really appreciate the decesion to make such a big airport
So in future the Haj’s wont have to stay in the heat
Hold on guys. The only fancy thing about this design is the little circle (looks like the royal terminal) but the other big circle where the cost will be, is not emphasized here. The problem with this design is that it will cost much more if it needs a little expansion as there is no room to do so.
August 14th, 2007 at 12:38 pmhi guys…..anyone from south india here??
August 20th, 2007 at 10:08 amall photos are good
August 20th, 2007 at 3:44 pmMashaAllah, Yes, people those arrive in Jeddah deserve this type of facility to entertain them..and why not as they are the guest of Allah.
I wish to see this!!!
August 21st, 2007 at 12:18 pmMay Allah Protect Saudi Arabia
It is a very good design, but think how many people around the world are dying of hunger, diseases, and lot more. What a waste of money only for 11 days of hajj season. Not required
September 4th, 2007 at 11:45 pmAn amazing design however i dont feel that the notion and intervention expressed on the exterior has been communicated and transfered to the same level within the interior of the building nor does the relationship between the royal pavilion and the main terminal suggest any narritive of how the royal pavilion has come to rest in its axis. Although, the proportion and overall notion for for the design and it programmatic criteria i believe is succesful, well done
jack, Interior Arch Student, Victioria university of Wellington, New Zealand
September 17th, 2007 at 8:07 amAfter Beijing, Jeddah… Rem Koolhaas love the dictature !!!! Now, RK have just one principe : “money for my agency”
November 26th, 2007 at 12:48 pmI cant respect this guy !
The circular design can be matched to the anticipated maximum airport/runways capacity, and as such does not need to be a more flexible semi circular design.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:15 amanother masterpiece landmark by OMA just not in da right place
February 9th, 2008 at 9:48 amHey Guyz ………. isn’t it cool ….. i like that ……… and may be in the future i think that Jeddah will not look like Jeddah. It seems to be a commercial city of this kingdom….
I really like this project …….
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EFFORTS ……….
Naveel Arif Jameel
February 11th, 2008 at 7:41 amAssistant Marketing Manager
Binzagr Coro LTD.
does any body here knows as to why the older hajj terminal of jeddah is being replaced with this new fancy one??? does the old one lacks the capacity or is the design and the fabric covered waiting area of the airport proving to be a nuisance. What is it that has compelled the authorities to take such a decision??
Zainab Ilyas,
April 15th, 2008 at 8:51 pmfinal year architecture,
karachi