Majidi’s first major participation was in the development of Stansted Airport. This process reimagined the very concept of an airport; how this building type should work and feel. The project reached a solution where the clarity of passenger movement through the space was paramount, and thereby created a new, rationalised template for subsequent airport design.
This early experience would prove valuable when preparing the competition entry for Chek Lap Kok International Airport, Hong Kong. In creating the winning proposal, Majidi comments how the ideals achieved at Stansted were adapted to a larger-scale terminal. Despite this expansion in capacity, the design would still express intuitive circulation routes, resulting in one of the best passenger experiences.
Through direct collaboration with Norman Foster, Majidi learnt to look from different perspectives, and to consider all outcomes and possibilities, in order to steer the design process towards realisable solutions.