Landmark
All projectsGateway to Punjab at Chandigarh International Airport
A competition entry for a gateway at Chandigarh International Airport, a cable-held sphere over the arrival road.
- Location
Chandigarh
- Status
Competition entry
- Scope
Architecture, concept
The brief
A marker at the entrance to a city, seen at speed from a moving car and up close from the pavement. It had to work at both distances.
What we did
Held the sphere on cables
The mass is carried in tension rather than on a visible frame, which leaves the road below open.
Made it read at two speeds
The silhouette carries from a distance. Surface detail only appears once you are near it.
Lit it from within
Light sits inside the form instead of on it, so the gateway reads at night without floodlighting the road.
What the entry proposes
The idea.
Three decisions the scheme rests on, and what each one buys.
- StructureHeld in tension
The mass hangs on cables instead of a visible frame, so the road underneath stays open.
- ReadingTwo distances
The silhouette carries from a moving car. The surface only resolves once you are on the pavement.
- LightFrom within
The form is lit from inside rather than floodlit, so it reads at night without spilling onto the carriageway.
