Irene Mu

As an architectural typology piece, airport architecture has radically evolved since the 1900s. Over the years, airports have developed from ‘covered sheds’ to terminals with mature systematic layouts. Increasingly, airports have become significant pieces of transport infrastructure, seen as a symbolic gateway to a country or region, and an essential statement of local identity. This thesis not only studies the history and design of airport terminals but also investigates the importance of architectural aesthetics and a sense of place in the design of airport terminals. By taking the design of a proposed new Auckland International Airport as the core of the thesis, this thesis explores the current situation and the future potential and influence of the airport as a gateway to the city. How can a new airport on the Manukau Harbour, Tāmaki Makaurau fulfil the future transportation infrastructure requirements but also connect to deeper issues of place and cultural readings throughout its architecture? Given that Architecture has great power to convey symbolism, a narrative of its location or sense of its place, and its cultural background, what are the architectural opportunities for a new airport on the Manukau Harbour? As a response, this thesis acts as a design-based research practice and approaches the airport terminal from pragmatic, conceptual, and visual perspectives. Drawing on the powerful landscape and skyscape of the Manukau, the great migrating flocks of birds or manu, and the origin stories of Te Ao Māori, and facilitated by contemporary digital techniques, the research and methodologies have led to the design of a new international and domestic airport terminal for Auckland.