Who doesn't know Terminal 1 at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, a 190 meter diameter disc with concrete walls, an austere bunker-like terminal, a circle which earned it the nickname "camembert"?
But few people remember the name of Paul Andreu, its architect who died in 2018, at the age of 80, also designer of the other terminals (with the RER, TGV and hotel complex) and twenty other airports around the world.
Roissy 1 is inspired by American examples (Tampa, Houston or Kansas City) advocating the principle of the satellite airport, in order to reduce the distance for passengers, from roof parking to boarding, and to put a maximum of planes connected.
Built around an empty ring open to the sky like a call to take flight, a giant abyss sucking in and re-diffusing travelers, the building was a landmark, to counteract the more sensible, linear and glass one, by Henri Vicario, at Orly , finished thirteen years earlier.
Read also Prettier and friendlier, airport hotels are beginning to change
On March 8, 1974, Terminal 1, emblem of a…
This article is reserved for subscribers.
You have 90% left to discover.
Flash sale
€4.49/month for 12 months
I ENJOY IT
Already subscribed?
Log in