Cam Ranh International Airport
If airports became the most emblematic representation of non-places, where one can experience everywhere the same grandiose architecture of being nowhere, they enthusiastically saw the occasion to challenge this fact and set new standards with the project to design the outdoor spaces of the Cam Ranh International Airport.
The airport welcomes more than 4,8 million visitors per year to the region of Nha Trang, known for its peaceful resorts and beaches. The new passengers terminal, designed by Singapore-based CPG, will allow to double this capacity. Exceptionality of the project: it stands as one of the first airports in the world to have commissioned a proper landscape design for their outdoor spaces.
On a 10-hectare large site, different volumes greet arriving passengers at three different scales: from the landing airplane, the car driving to the parking lot, or as a pedestrian walking to the terminal, one can appreciate original shapes that start conveying the enchanting climate of the Khanh Hoa Province.
The most unique part of this project is yet the one dedicated to pedestrians. Focusing on the small scale of the human experience, they designed a proper public space in front of the terminal: as people come and go to the airport, a generous, welcoming open space offers them to have a first contact with Cam Ranh, to wait, chat or say goodbye in a relaxed atmosphere. Large curvy shapes are arranged over the space in a seemingly random configuration, creating a very permeable space. In fact, while the airport is expected to receive 8 million passengers a year, the design gives full priority to circulation flows, but it also retains pockets of space for people evolving at different rhythms to coexist.
The shapes are seating and shading structures made of bamboo and metal, and planted areas. The shades are placed over the seating blocks in a mismatched manner, always leaving parts of the benches out in the sun. In and out all the time, the patterns create a ‘sense of wrongness’ that forces people to see, search for the right spot and appreciate the design. From playfulness, interaction between people and places can happen.
Following similar considerations of functionality and generosity of space, a path extends the spirit from the terminal’s entrance to the motorbike parking with a selection of sea-side plants. While fully respecting infrastructure and transport requirements, Cam Ranh’s outdoor space breaks away from the monotony of airport design traditions and shows a care to make good and enjoyable places for people…
Project details
Design: LJ-Group
Built: 2018
Location: Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam
Typology: international airport public spaces
Size: 23.000 m2
Leader designer & Team: Pedro Pedalino, Daniel Alonso, LJ-Group
Clients: CRTC
Photo Credits: © Brice Godard
LJ-Group
LJ-Group is a network of landscape architecture studios dedicated to the research and practice of thriving outdoor spaces. They offer a range of services tailored to the specific needs of each project. For over 30 years, LJ-Group has been dedicated to designing modern landscapes for a variety of clients from all over the world. From the first office in Rio de Janeiro, the network has now expanded to well-established branches in Brazil, Vietnam and Portugal. Their landscape solutions are diverse in scale and type, but always integrate users’ needs with the surrounding facilities and natural environment. LJ-Group combines extensive knowledge of nature and landscapes with contemporary ideas about people and culture. They always consider the human dimensions in a space, be they cultural, historical, or physical. Natural shapes, materials, and designs are thereby a continuous source of inspiration.