Third year students from Dept of Architecture, BUET showcased their design studio works on ‘airport terminal building’ in a public exhibition called ‘Junction’. The exhibition was held at EMK centre, Dhaka from 9th-15th February. Exhibits included drawings (plans, sections, elevations, and 3D views) and physical models of the terminal building.

People are travelling now more than ever in the history of mankind and a bulk of these travels are carried out by airplane through airports around the world. Now-a-days, for many, journey is not only going from one destination to another one, it has become a way of life. The international Civil Aviation organizations reports that 3.5 billion passengers have travelled by air in 2015. It is expected to grow.

As the economy of Bangladesh is growing so is the number of people travelling by air in this country. In the recent years Bangladesh has observed a rise in the number of home grown private airline operating in the country. Airports are not mere junctions for journeys but they have become commercial, economic, and entertainment hubs.

Students of third year (Department of Architecture, BUET) was challenged to design an airport terminal building in three existing airport’s site (Saidpur, Sylhet, and Cox’s Bazar) of Bangladesh. The students have spent over a week studying different aspects of an airport terminal building (Departure lounge, Arrival concourse, HVAC, Electrical system, fire fighting system etc. They have also visited the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport terminal building for a full day to understand how it works, what the essentials are, what the required scale of a terminal building is, how the luggage is handled, what the security requirements are etc. The design studio was guided by Professor Dr. M. Zakiul Islam, Dr.Nayma Khan, Tasneem Tariq, Dr.Apurba Kumar Podder, Ahammad-Al-Muhaymin, and Meherul Kader Prince.

Photographs by: Nasif Chowdhury, Dept of Architecture, BUET