American Airlines Headquarters

Designing the head office of an airline is a fascinating challenge. The commissioning client wanted a strong impression to be created, but in this case the premises were not ideal: the site had no external window and was centered around a little patio on the first floor of a building with access available by just one staircase.

Olivia de Pazzis Hanemian and AIM Hanemian Architects with the DPLG architect Marc du Manoir designed a floor-sited lighting system reminiscent of a landing-strip to pilot the visitor up the staircase to the first-floor offices. The intermediate landing also has extra lighting inserted in a niche in the wall. The staircase handrail ends in a top-strip rising vertically like an aircraft taking off.

The first-floor landing is circular and consists of inlaid wall-to-wall carpet with a world map design reflected in the circular roof mirror. The essence of the design is to compensate for the absence of natural lighting by means of surprising effects and artificial lighting designed by specialists in the field.