Nearly half a decade after his famous Habitat ’67, architect Moshe Safdie is still going strong. Born in Israel, Safdie strives to incorporate sustainability in his firm’s designs, but Project Jewel may be his most flamboyant effort yet. Hit the jump to learn more about this interesting airport development in Singapore.
Slated for construction at Changi Airport, a major transportation hub that manages some 30 percent of the country’s air traffic, Project Jewel is designed to raise the airport’s profile as a worthwhile destination in itself for tourists either passing through or landing in Singapore.
Like a giant dome interconnecting terminals 1, 2, and 3, the new building will be comprised of glass and steel – not the most sensible or earth-friendly materials – and feature a massive indoor garden and even a waterfall that will pour from the dome’s roof.
Included in the mixed-use development’s offerings are retail facilities and a large communal facility complete with other interesting activities — all part of the plan to colonize the traveler’s mind with images of an airport that is more than just a boring place to wait for a plane.
Related: Bring Moshe Safdie’s green building to the Middle East
“To strengthen Changi Airport’s competitive advantage and ensure that we continue to capture passenger mindshare and traffic, we must take deliberate steps to enhance Changi’s attractiveness as a stopover point. With Project Jewel, we are pleased to be developing an exciting product that will swing travellers to choose Changi Airport, and Singapore,” said Mr Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer of the developers Changi Airport Group (CAG).
The indoor garden will include green walls that will help to offset a tiny amount of the overall emissions associated with an airport facility of this extraordinary girth – after all, it intends to serve 85 million passengers by the time Project Jewel is complete.
At $1.5 billion, this is no small project, so Safdie has a chance to really create something spectacular. It’s not clear when it will break ground, but at least local design firms will participate in the process of creating a unique lifestyle destination for the world’s wealthy elite.
Images via Neoscape
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
