Flying carpet in the check-in hall

Project name: The Magic Carpet
Place: Berlin-Brandenburg airport
Artist: Pae White
Special features: An aluminum installation measuring 1,000 m² was created on site and installed in the airport’s check-in hall.

In 2012, Californian artist Pae White’s “The Magic Carpet” won the public competition for art in public buildings for the Berlin-Brandenburg airport. The initial design culminated in a metal “flying carpet” measuring approximately 1,000 m² and weighing 4.5 tons.

Trusting Arnold:

Pae White relied on Arnold during all phases of the project:

• Submitting the building proposal and obtaining the construction permits
• Creating the structure and parametric planning
• Structural calculations
• Production and assembly of the artwork

Woven onsite

A large part of the metalwork was done directly in the “carpet weaving workshop” that was specially set up for the purpose in the airport’s check-in area. The assembly team used 13,000 m of color-coated 0.3 mm aluminum ribbon to weave a unique metal carpet with artistically curving ornaments. Over 10,000 screws and 130,000 rivets were used. The carpet was woven during the day and the finished sections raised aloft piece by piece and installed during the night.