The Most Earthquake-Proof
Kansai International, Japan
Architect: Renzo Piano Building Works
Perhaps astonishingly given the region’s propensity for typhoons and earthquakes, the airport at Kansai was built on a man-made, artificial island in the Bay of Osaka. “With Tom Barker, a mechanical engineer with Ove Arup & Partners,” explains Renzo Piano, “we investigated streams of air, from which the form of the terminal's roof would emerge.” Opening in 1994, the stunning airport was fully functional at the time of the Kobe earthquake disaster of 1995 and, amazingly, suffered no damage. Concerns over its huge debts – and continued worries that the island is sinking – have, however, led some observers to describe the airport as one of the world’s “most attractive white elephants.”
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