Every year, the Unesco Prix Versailles architectural competitions highlight the finest contemporary projects worldwide. Different contests are organised for airports, campuses, passenger stations, sports, museums, emporiums, hotels, and restaurants. Now, the Prix Versailles has shared the World’s Most Beautiful Airports List 2025.
The Unesco Prix Versailles was first organised in 2015 and over the years, it has become a fixed value in the architecture world. While putting together a list of laureates, the Prix Versailles World Jury pays tribute to innovation, creativity, reflections of local heritage, ecological efficiency, and the values of social interaction and participation.
While airports are rarely referred to because of their architectural aspects, according to Secretary General of the Prix Versailles, Jérôme Gouadain, they do indeed have an important role to play.
“The mark left by airports stems chiefly from their ever-growing role in international exchanges. As a result, this infrastructure must resolve formidable difficulties in terms of flow management and the aircraft themselves. But this new brand of facilities can also be seen as works of art, or at least as things of beauty. In fact, we should strive to make this happen, given their inescapability in our built environments and our landscapes. Orientated towards operational, ecological and aesthetic excellence, these hubs also convey shared values, culture or even a tribute to the past, out of respect for the legacies left behind by earlier generations. In the light of the planetary challenges facing us today, it is time for these expressive images of our contemporary heritage to be asserted as symbols of humankind’s internal dialogue,” he states in a press release.
World’s Most Beautiful Airports List 2025
1. Yantai Penglai International Airport, Terminal 2 – Yantai, China
Yantai’s new Terminal two is a homage to the surrounding coastal landscape. The building was designed by Aedas, in collaboration with CSWADI and the Shanghai New Era Airport Design and Research Institute, and its unconventional E-shaped layout optimises passengers flow while minimising the impact on the terrain. Natural light plays a key role in the design and the many natural materials used, are a nod to the Maritime Silk Road.
2. Marseille Provence Airport, Terminal 1 – Marignane, France
Foster + Partners were in charge of unifying Terminal 1 with a 22,000 square meter extension, meant to relax the overall experiencing without expanding the terminal’s footprint on the ground. The project restored 28,000 square meters of airport space, in keeping with the original design by Fernand Pouillon’s in the 1960s terminal and with Richard Rogers’ development in the 1990s.
The window-lined hall stands 22 meters tall and built of 70% recycled steel. The glass façades provide for maximum transparency and allow for views over the Provençal hinterland and the maritime lagoon.
3. Roland Garros Airport, Arrivals Terminal – Réunion Island, France
The new 13,000 square meter Arrivals Terminal at the Roland Garros Airport is the world’s first tropical bioclimatic airport structure at this scale. That approach was chosen by AIA Life Designers on an island subject to increasingly intense weather phenomena and the result was made possible for 91% by local businesses.
The most striking feature is without a doubt the central ‘canyon’, defining the building’s form while acting as a thermal chimney enabling natural ventilation. Meanwhile, 830 sets of louvred shutters connected to sensors on the façades adjust their angles in real time in response to changing weather conditions.
4. Kansai International Airport, Terminal 1 – Osaka, Japan
The original design of Terminal 1 at Kansai International Airport was made 30 years ago by Renzo.
Piano. The airport, situated on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, is known for its aerodynamic roofline and for being the longest airport in the world. The terminal’s reopening in time for the 2025 World Expo, honours the history of the site.
Design firm Populous now had to secure the site’s long-term growth by making the best possible use of existing infrastructure. The capacity to accommodate international travellers of Terminal 1 has thus expanded by 25%. During the renovation, the interior spaces were given a Japanese feel though the use of naturally-hued materials.
5. Portland International Airport, Main Terminal – Portland, United States
The new Main Terminal at Portland International Airport was designed by ZGF, inspired by a walk in the forest. The undulating mass timber roof, which spans over more than 36,000 square meters, is a celebration of Oregon’s history of forest product innovation. Moreover, the materials were sourced from local industry within a 500 kilometer radius of the airport. Thanks to its spectacular structure, natural light stands at the center of the project, while the composition of the terminal is a reference to the city’s urban fabric.
6. San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 1 – San Francisco, United States
The transformation of Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airports by a team of partners led by Gensler has resulted in no less than 25, while the renovation has reduced the building’s carbon footprint by 79% and its energy usage by 59%.
The entire terminal was designed to be a celebration of arts and crafts, reflecting the unique character of the Bay Area, but the most striking part of the project is undoubtedly the SFO Museum. As the world’s only accredited museum at an airport, it allows exhibits and art to be shared throughout the terminals.
