Japanese practice wins competition to design Zurich Airport mixed-use scheme
Japanese architects Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop have beaten 90 practices including Zaha Hadid Architects to design a 200,000sq m mixed-use building at Zurich Airport.
The practice beat four other finalists – Hadid, US firm Asymptote Architecture, Swiss practice Dürig AG and Belgium¡¯s Xaveer De Geyter – with the full 90 entries hailing from 12 countries.
The Circle is a £547 million project to serve the airport¡¯s 22 million annual passengers, and includes shops and a hotel. The client describes it as one of the world¡¯s most ambitious airport real estate projects and hopes it will become a destination in its own right.
An airport spokesman said Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop¡¯s entry was ¡°characterised primarily by Swiss understatement and high atmospheric quality derived from the eloquence of its compact urban format¡±.
The architect will now develop the initial concept to ensure it fits Zürich Airport¡¯s financial, design and functionality requirements.
Work is due to start in 2012 and be completed by about 2016.