San Diego International Airport’s new $3.8 billion terminal has made an international list of the world’s seven most beautiful airports.
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The new Terminal 1, which opened in September, made the annual “Most Beautiful” list from Paris-based Prix Versailles. Awards are given out annually at the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) headquarters. The award was for San Diego’s new terminal, not the entire airport.
San Diego was one of two American winners, along with the remodel of the Pittsburgh International Airport. Other winners included Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (China), Frankfurt Airport (Germany), Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (India), Navi Mumbai International Airport (India) and Techo International Airport (Cambodia).
Prix Versailles was founded in 2015 with goals of promoting design, sustainability, socially useful buildings and innovation. It also gives awards for hotels, museums and restaurants. No other San Diego buildings made the list, but Monsieur Dior by Dominique Crenn and Lucia restaurants in nearby Los Angeles County won restaurant awards.
The TSA entry point for passengers to clear security before continuing to their airline gate at the new Terminal 1. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Rise, by Matthew Mazzotta, is a larger-than-life sculpture, performance space, and shade structure inspired by the purple-striped jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata) that is part of the public arts displayed at the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego International Airport will welcome the first flights to arrive at the new Terminal 1. Traffic next to the parking structure and the new Terminal 1 at the San Diego International Airport on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The entry point for passengers to enter the airline gates after clearing the TSA checkpoint.Construction is ongoing at the new Terminal 1 of San Diego International Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in San Diego, California. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“A Day in the Sun” by Amy Ellingson is a mosaic that celebrates San Diego’s natural and coastal environment. Nearly a million tiles — all set by hand — make up the artwork, which can be found on six columns just before the gates at the new Terminal 1. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Migrations, by Walter Hood, is a site-specific sculpture that is part of the public arts displayed at the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport on Sept. 11, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The TSA area at the new Terminal 1 at the San Diego International. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
People take a sneak peek at Terminal 1 on the 2nd floor at the San Diego International Airport on Sept. 14, 2025. (Ariana Drehsler / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Mo Mokled holds a sign “Ask Me About New T1 at the newly constructed Terminal 1 at the San Diego International Airport on Sept. 14, 2025. (Ariana Drehsler / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Baggage carousels at the new Terminal 1. Construction is ongoing at the new Terminal 1 of San Diego International Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in San Diego, California.Â
The departure terminal at Terminal 1. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego International Airport Terminal 1 sofa. Michael Price / U-T
San Diego International Airport Terminal 1outdoor seating. Michael Price / U-T
Framed within the window of the new Terminal 1, a Southwest passenger plane taxis down the runway at San Diego International Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in San Diego, California. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
(Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)A walkway and stairs and hanging lights between the parking towers at the Terminal 1 Parking Plaza in the San Diego International Airport. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Jérôme Gouadain, secretary general of Prix Versailles, said in a news release the airports were “inescapable hallmarks of their regions and their eras.”
Three of the airports will be awarded a world title by the end of the year, considered a bigger honor (San Diego in the running). Last year, the winners were the Harvey Milk Terminal at the San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 1 at Marseille Provence Airport (France) and the main terminal at Portland International Airport.
The competition’s jurors said San Diego’s new terminal had completely transformed the space that previously was home to an aging terminal.
“This gentle revolution rallied the most advanced expertise to create a high-performance civic gateway,” it said, “(that is) deeply attuned to San Diego’s climate, culture and regional identity.”
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The terminal also received high marks for an intuitive walk from curb to boarding gate, its curved glass façade and its lack of structural columns in ticketing areas that shrinks its carbon footprint.
“Outdoor terraces overlooking the bay, flexible lounges and local concessions enhance the comfort and the profoundly appealing character of the site,” the jurors said.
Terminal 1 architectural firm Gensler was in high spirits because it also designed Pittsburgh’s airport.
“Both of these projects represent something we care deeply about at Gensler; the idea that a great airport can genuinely transform a city’s relationship with the world,” said Ty Osbaugh, a principal at Gensler.
San Francisco-based Gensler, which also has an office in downtown San Diego, received the world title last year for its work on San Francisco’s airport.
Jurors for the competition are among the world’s top architects but can sometimes include members from different professions. Last year, one of the jurors was “Harry Potter” actress Emma Watson.
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