TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The north boarding concourse of Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 opened for trial operations on Monday, designed by British-Italian architect Richard Rogers, famous for the Pompidou Centre and Lloyd’s Building.
The open-plan waiting area features large glass facades and outdoor sunshades, with thoughtfully designed passenger flows, per CNA. Colors guide travelers progressively, with the check-in hall in yellow, elevators in orange, and skybridges in reddish-orange.
The terminal’s design incorporates traditional Taiwanese roof tiles, mountain ridges, ocean waves, and seas of clouds, which define its distinctive look. Its complex construction caused the main contract to fail three times before revisions allowed work to begin in 2017.
Born in Italy, Rogers won numerous awards, including the 2007 Pritzker Prize. He was known for using industrial materials such as glass and steel and is considered a pioneer of the high-tech architecture movement.
Rogers believed a building’s success depends on the surrounding space, famously saying, “The twin towers in New York, for instance. They weren’t great buildings, but the space between them was.” His most famous work is the Pompidou Centre in Paris, which was chosen from 681 submissions despite initial skepticism.
By exposing steel structures and complex piping and using bold colors, he challenged traditional architectural aesthetics. In his autobiography, he noted that after winning the competition, critics attacked the design from all sides, citing both cultural centralism and the disruption of Paris’ skyline.
Public opinion shifted rapidly, and the Pompidou Centre drew seven million visitors in its first year, more than the combined total of the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, establishing it as a modern landmark.
Other notable projects by Rogers’ firm include London’s Lloyd’s Building, Madrid’s Barajas Airport, London Heathrow Terminal 5, The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) in Cardiff, Protos Winery in Spain and, in Taiwan, Kaohsiung MRT’s Central Park Station and the Ching Fu Group headquarters.
Rogers died in 2021 at the age of 88.
