A Journey Beyond the Runway: Gwalior Airport

One of the world's most diverse nations has planned a gateway to enter its center of literature, art and music- Gwalior.

Gwalior is a city where the glory of Hindu Kingdom is testified by its grand palaces and marvelous engineering of temples till today, a city where great musicians passed on their knowledge to the world. Its pottery tinted with hues of white and Persian blue makes the Gwalior handicraft exceptional. The brief broached Gwalior Fort as an inspiration to be taken for the design.

Gwalior Fort, with its thick sandstone walls, looks like a strong headed soldier guarding its city and public. An architectural marvel from the 8th century set on a hilltop consists of two main palaces, temples, and water tanks. The TeliKa-Mandir and Man Singh Palace are the most well-known among them.

Man Singh Palace within the complex of Gwalior fort speaks for its splendid beauty with the hues of blue, green and yellow truly makes Gwalior fort 'pearl in the necklace of the forts of Hind', built by Raja Man Singh during his reign for his wife.

The detailing of Man Singh Palace solely lies on its elements from Hindu architecture with sequences being followed, commanding each and every minute elements to form the flawless grand structure.

Gurpreet Shah and team say "While visiting Gwalior Fort and Man Singh Palace for better understanding of the context, history and architecture of the palace, we saw splendid usage of beautiful elements throughout the fort. The carved jharokhas, courtyards, detailed cornices, motifs etc. was in sequence. The blue colored Persian tiles splashed a fresh breeze of moist air in a dry surrounding, making the eyes reach tranquility. All these prominent features kicked us to start the design."

While designing an airport, the architects do face a lot of challenges from making it a global facility to managing such large public spaces to creating an aesthetically pleasant structure including commercial and financial feasibility.