Carrasco International Airport, New Terminal

The design of the building emphasizes its public zones and amenities, providing these areas with an abundance of open space and natural light. Arriving travelers, for example, pass through a fully glazed mezzanine level that helps orient them to the terminal space before they descend to the baggage claim and other services. A public, landscaped terrace and a restaurant occupy the second floor, providing sweeping views of the runway and the main concourse.

Independent access roads service departures on the first floor and arrivals on the ground level. An open atrium adjacent to the street entrance opens the ground floor to the monumental space of the main hall, visually and spatially linking the beginning and ending stages of a traveler’s journey.

Key features:
• curved roof maintains a low profi le on landscape
• strategic use of daylighting and views guide travelers through arrival/departure sequence
• design highlights public spaces for both travelers and non-traveling friends and family

«In Uruguay, friends and family still come to greet you at the airport or see you off,» says Rafael Viñoly, «so this terminal provides great spaces for the people who aren’t traveling as well as those who are. The atrium, the main hall, the terrace, and the passenger concourse make this a dramatic and welcoming place for everyone.»

New Terminal Transportation Carrasco International Airport, officially known as «Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco General Cesareo L. Berisso,» is located 11 miles (18 kilometers) east of downtown Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay. With one million passengers per year, it is one of only two airports in the country that provide yearround international connections, and as a result carries great symbolic value as the «front door» for many visitors. With this distinction in mind, Puerta del Sur, the airport owner and operator, commissioned Rafael Viñoly Architects PC to expand and modernize the existing facilities with a spacious new passenger terminal to expand capacity and spur commercial growth and tourism in the region.

Rafael Viñoly Architects PC
Rafael Viñoly Architects PC is a critically acclaimed international practice headquartered in New York, with affiliate offices in London and Los Angeles.
Founded in 1983, and now employing over 225 architects and support staff, the fi rm provides comprehensive services in building design, urban planning, and interior design for new facilities and renovations. Its many successes include the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Campus (Ashburn, Virginia), the Tokyo International Forum (Tokyo, Japan), the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and the Mahler 4 Offi ce Tower (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).
Rafael Viñoly, the firm’s principal, has practiced architecture for forty-five years in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Driven by the conviction that the essential responsibility of architecture is to elevate the public realm, his work has been recognized in the world’s leading design publications and by numerous prestigious awards. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a member of the Japan Institute of Architects.