New Zagreb Airport terminal designcreates controversy

Zagreb Airport is set to quadruple in size according to its expansion. The main hub of Croatia will get a new terminal which will enable five million passengers to travel through it every year, compared to the current capacity of two million. The new design (pictured above) was unveiled earlier during October. Current facilities are expected to be renovated by next summer, while the new building is created 2.5km north-east of the existing structure. Boško Matković, the airport’s director, said that the project is finally coming to a realisation 20 years after it was first proposed. He added: "We now have to request a construction permit, the drawing up of implementation projects and issue a tender for contractors. If everything goes to plan, we expect the works to be completed by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012”. However things are not going to plan.

An anonymous person has filed a report that Jure Radić, Branko Kincl and Velimir Neidhardt plagiarised their project for Zagreb’s new airport from Osaka airport, by the architect Renzo Piano. The report was given to the chamber of architects and engineers of construction. The chamber confirmed that there is no valid signature on the report, so they do not know who reported the architectural proposal for Zagreb’s new Pleso airport. The report requests that Radić, Neidhart and Kincl have their permits permanently revoked because of the plagiarism. The report also says that the competition was set up, and that people were professionally incompetent to notice a copy. It also said the architects who evaluated the work should have their licences revoked, which includes Jerko Rosino. The winning design caused controversy in Croatia as many believed there were much better designs. The airport authorities in Zagreb said that the allegations of plagiarism are nonsense.

To view the designs in order of the prize it received follow this link. Once there scroll down the page and make your own judgment if the best design won.