Santa Lucía, Zumpango, México
“The design of the masterplan, terminal and concourse are guided by the principles of modularity, lightness of materials, efficient high-performance materials, intelligent layout and circulation patterns derived from a data-driven scientific approach, resiliency, exceptional energy performance, and ease of operations and maintenance,” states Francisco González-Pulido head of Chicago-based FGP Atelier.
Led by Francisco González-Pulido and his team at FGP Atelier, the long-awaited new Felipe Ángeles International Airport at Santa Lucía (AIFA), designed to be the next iconic landmark for México, is now under construction.
The project was recently awarded a 2021 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
AIFA is designed to be more than just a building, but an urban complex defined by a grand roadway running along a strong axis providing a professional approach to the terminal building and concourses.
It will include an airport city, hotel, intermodal station, bus station, cargo terminals, general aviation facilities, and military city that itself will have a military aviation museum, school, and residences among other amenities.
The context in which the project arose made it essential that the design adheres to a strict budget and tight deadline for completion.
In order to achieve these goals, an integrated design approach, as well as an integrative process and team, was proposed.
At the same time, it was important that the airport be both expandable and sustainable.
These characteristics would ultimately combine to form a work of exceptional architecture and urban planning befitting México’s growing presence on the global stage.
These various components will be planned to work in harmony and to be achieved over a series of phases on a site that can accommodate tremendous expansion so that the airport can ultimately become a major player within the burgeoning aviation network of México.
An airport cannot be planned with a short-term or even mid-term goal in mind. It is important to think long-term.
The site in Santa Lucía is large enough to accommodate such long-term goals through significant growth over a period of more than 30 years.
González-Pulido’s vision for the airport is achieved through fusing architectural and engineering principles to form a new experience that is true to its functionality and easily adaptable to future interventions.
The buildings will have a positive impact on the environment through the use of less of everything to create timeless beauty.
Architecture, landscape, structure, and energy work in unison to create a building that is advanced, forward-looking, functional, contextual, efficient, and high performing.
A minimal attitude in the selection of materials and conscious design of all building systems ensures an efficient use of resources and a positive attitude towards the environment.
The idea is not to add but to subtract and yet achieve a higher standard.
The design has been arrived at with a local building and architectural tradition in mind.
Over the course of the design process, the question of the span of the roof structure arose.
A long-span structure was rejected in favor of a short-span structure that was more appropriate to the time and budgetary constraints.
The complex is conceived as a series of modular units and kits of parts that will make it possible to build a large building with very simple economical means quickly.
Ultimately, the firm’s design has eliminated what is not essential to give place to an authentic beauty, pure and based on design principles that are logical and rational.
The building and an airport complex’s design is clear in its organization and therefore legible in its circulation with optimal routes for all flows: passengers, baggage, vehicles, and services.
The program calls for a sustainable and positive solution to the design of a mega-complex, one that is a simple way reduces energy consumption, emissions, waste generation, water consumption, the irrational use of resources in its construction and that has a positive impact on the community in which it will be developed.
The architectural proposal is based on a selection of “Mexican” materials, a building that represents Mexico for its constructive ingenuity and its simplicity in the use of materials and systems.
Upon completion, AIFA will be more than an airport, it will be a city with a positive impact within an ecosystem.
Respectful of pre-existing architectural elements such as the Hacienda de Santa Lucía, it will be a generator of urban activity that will have a positive impact on the local and national economy.
It will have an adequately sized hotel, parking, retail, and back of house areas.
It will seek the integration of native species and, as much as possible, it will not be disruptive to the existing ecosystem.
Project: Felipe Ángeles International Airport at Santa Lucía (AIFA)
Architects: FGP Atelier
Collaborators: Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie (ADPI) and NAVBLUE
Client: Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA)
