Speaker Biograghy: Mustafa is a Design Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and has worked on projects across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Dedicated to the expansion and development of KPF’s practice in these regions, Mustafa manages international teams to realise client aspirations for each of his projects. He is currently overseeing the Abu Dhabi International Airport Midfield Terminal Complex, a 40 million-passenger terminal complex. This large infrastructure project is under construction and is one of the largest construction sites in the world. The airport will offer a gateway to the city, confirming its status as both a global business centre and a luxury destination. Other current projects include two mixed-use towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Shenzhen, China, and a financial headquarters building in Istanbul, Turkey. Mustafa’s projects are sensitive and responsive to their locality, influenced by social, economic, environmental and urban context and resulting in award-winning, internationally recognised architecture.


Day 1 - 14 March
Session: Airport Cities, Transport Connections & Tourism

17:05 - 17:35 - Panel Discussion: The relationship between airports and cities – loveably complex systems

Day 2 - 15 March
Session: Airport Cities, Transport Connections & Tourism

09:05 - 09:35 - Interior urbanism and the human scale: Abu Dhabi Airport
Synopsis: As cities expand more and more, the notion of a singular city centre is becoming outmoded and obsolete. Instead, new off-centre civic places are developing in the form of mega-airports designed to house civic spaces akin to the Agora of Athens, ‘a place where Ancient Greek democracy first came to life’. These airports project an expression of a country's forms of commerce, and its social and cultural tendencies. This presentation will use Abu Dhabi Airport as a recent example of this idea, and will touch on the opportunities and challenges in designing such buildings.

Audience will learn:

• The changing relationship between cities and their airports, and the opportunities this might pose
• The challenges and innovations of the new Abu Dhabi International Midfield Terminal Complex
• Mega-airports as a typology, and the future of airport design