In the eyes of its creator

Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport in the words of its architect and designer Norman Foster:

It's the largest covered structure ever built. There were 40,000 workers on site, working eight-hour shifts round the clock. Construction began on April 6, 2004, and was to have been completed on Dec 31, 2007, well in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

To get an idea of the scale, imagine Heathrow terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 together under one roof and then add an extra 17 percent of floor space. It's so big that under a certain amount of light you can't see one end of building from the other.

As you pass along the terminal, the walls and ceilings change from red to yellow, borrowing from traditional Chinese color schemes. It's an extension and development of our previous designs for Chep Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong, and the new terminal at Stansted, London.

It has taken 50 years for Heathrow to grow to its present scale. In Beijing, the process should be completed in less than five. Here is a society changing by the power of 10. Take Terminal 5 at Heathrow. The inquiry took longer to reach its inevitable conclusion that the terminal would have to be built. We waste so much time, money and energy delaying projects, leaving them for the next generation to deal with.

On the new terminal's structure:

If I could show you the superb steelwork, the great columns defined by subtle compound curves, I think you would be impressed. These come from the experience the Chinese have in shipbuilding. They are great shipbuilders.