Exterior View of Sondica Airport Station
Exterior View of Control Tower
- Sondica Airport and Control Tower located in Bilbao, Spain, about 10 kilometers north of the city. In 1990, ten years after Lyons Airport Station, Santiago Calatrava was asked to design Sondica Airport; he was commissioned to double the size of the terminal, and included the construction of a control tower for the new Bilbao Airport facilities.
Sondica Airport Control tower is 42 meters height, using concrete for basic structure, and is covered by vertically fluted aluminum cladding hung on an intermediate structure. There are three parts to modernize and consist:
- A symmetrical ramped base- has inclined frontal glazing and contains technical facilities in one wing and administrative offices in the other.
- The mast- expands toward its top while rising a height of 42 meters.
- The control deck- has a wraparound observation gallery, which provides access to the tower’s mechanical and electronic system
Interior View of departures Hall
Entry View
What I’ve learned so far from Calatrava, he always start inspirations of “human figures”, but in this project- Sondica Airport, more than just human figures, he also wants to emphasize the metaphor of flight implicit in the overall design, he imparts the feeling of take of the static buildings associated with flight. However, the original design of Sondica Airport was “La Paloma” (it means “The Dove”). The airport used concrete and glass, the interiors are open and luminous spaces, and distribution to two floors.
Sondica Airport Stations has some similar design elements and principles as Lyon Airport Station, and Stadelhofen Station. As you can see the interiors, he used “Simple forms” for architectural, and “symmetrical design”, “strong focal point” and “rhythm for ceiling or walls” for interior spaces. But the colour he used for Sondica Airport is brighter and lighter than other stations, and also the light plays an important role, giving variety and movement to the space.
Compare with Lyon Airport Station and Sondica Airport Station, I still like the design of Lyon Airport. But I found that it is interesting to see his idea of the metaphor of flight implicit, to see how he played rhythm vertical lines with glass material for exterior and a diagonal lines point out to the sky to represent the movement of the flight takes off. His idea also reminds our pervious project, and I feel it’s important for us to learn how to expand our thinking, think how to make our inspiration and concept more abstract from the movements or emotions.
Design Theory Research Assignment 