When Foster + Partners and Arup started work on Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, the team knew it had less than four years to design and build the project. “The deadline was paramount from the beginning,” says Mouzhan Majidi, Foster’s chief executive.

Ten thousand people who lived in a rural village on the site were quickly displaced, and the settlement bulldozed. Foster, who previously didn’t have a presence in Beijing, established an office in 10 days. At the peak of construction, 50,000 workers buzzed on-site, erecting the terminal with mostly local materials. And four years later, the glittering project debuted on schedule. (By comparison, London Heathrow’s T5 took 20 years from design to completion.) The result is not only the world’s biggest airport building, but one of the best. Terminal 3, intuitive and efficient to use, reimagines circulation for passengers and vehicles alike.