SANTORINI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
An island airport shaped by Cycladic domes and woven vines. A new terminal for Santorini's crowded airport: five white domes along the runway, about 40 contact gates and a VTOL link to the island.
Thira, Greece · ARC 503 Airport Studio, NC State · Spring 2026 · My role: all work shown is my own, from research, concept, planning and structure to the 3D model, renders and drawings.
OPTION - 2
OPTION - 1
THE ISLAND. Santorini is the rim of a sunken volcano that erupted about 3,600 years ago. Its west coast drops some 300 m into the flooded caldera; the east side slopes gently to the sea, and the airport sits on that flat strip. Three things define the island, and all three shaped the terminal. The Cycladic domes, white chapels under blue domes, became the halls. The kouloura vines, woven into low baskets on the ground out of the wind, became the woven passages. And the Meltemi, a strong north wind of 15 to 30 knots almost daily in July and August, now cools the halls.
CONCEPT. Chapel domes, linked by a woven vine. Five domes of different sizes are strung along the runway like chapels along a ridge, and joined by woven paraboloid passages that recall the kouloura. A steel space frame spans each dome, so the halls stay open with no columns, and an oculus crowns each one. About 40 contact gates line the two piers.
CONCEPT
INTERIORS
EXTERIORS
STRUCTURE
TODAY & TOMORROW
TODAY AND TOMORROW. Thira's one small terminal was built for a quieter island: 6 to 8 gates and room for 9 aircraft. With no jet bridges, passengers cross the apron on foot in sun and wind, and every arrival goes on by road. In 2025 the airport handled 18,664 passengers in January and 465,850 in August, about 25 times as many, with up to 200+ flights a day in summer against 10 to 20 in winter.
The new terminal answers with three moves. A jet bridge at every gate: two long piers give about 40 contact gates. Elastic for the seasons: in summer every dome opens and the passages take the overflow in shade; in winter the outer pods close and the core runs alone. Fly on, skip the roads: a VTOL hub on top of the car park, bridged to the terminal, links the airport to the rest of the island.