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TRAVELLER
DOUGLAS ADAMS ONCE WROTE,
“IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT IN
NO KNOWN LANGUAGE DOES
THE PHRASE ‘AS PRETTY AS AN
AIRPORT’ APPEAR.” CLEARLY,
HE DIDN’T SEE ANY OF THESE
ARCHITECTURAL MARVELS
AROUND OUR NETWORK
O F
F L I GH T S
F ANC Y
O L I V E R W A I N W R I G H T
NAME
MADEIRAAIRPORT
BUILT
1964 (RUNWAY EXTENDED
IN 2000)
Check out the legs on that! Once
infamous for its mountainous approach
and tiny, 1,600m runway, which posed
a huge challenge to pilots, Madeira
Airport literally went back to the drawing
board in 2000. The idea of extending
the runway on 180 concrete columns
was a pioneering – some might say
risky –move, but it paid off, winning
designer António Segadães Tavares the
Outstanding Structures Award from the
International Association for Bridge and
Structural Engineering in 2004.
PHOTO ©ARCAID/NATALIE TEPPER
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