Glance up at the 120-foot-long video walls in PDX’s main terminal, and you may see an Oregon cowboy. Look away for just a minute, and the scene may shift to butterflies flitting around a misty Northwest waterfall. Stare at it all day, and you’ll never see exactly the same scene.
PDX’s two new video walls, which stretch above the security checkpoints, display a 24-hour art installation. “Extraordinary Windows,” as the piece is titled, mixes short artworks created specifically for PDX with Oregon-inspired landscapes that change according to the time of day, the weather, and how many people are traveling through PDX.
We asked the Portland artists who led the creation of “Extraordinary Windows'' to tell us more about their vision for the piece, which is designed to entertain travelers and, perhaps, inspire them to take a few deep breaths. Martha Almy, the founding partner of Portland’s Half Sister Studios, is a creative producer who specializes in immersive media for public spaces and museums. Fernanda Navilli is a creative director at dotdotdash who specializes in using cutting-edge technologies to create experiences.
PDX: What will people see on the video screens when they’re standing in line at security or sitting on the stadium seats?
Martha Almy: We wanted to provide a unique lens on our region and celebrate our region’s diversity, both in terms of nature but also perspectives. There are two key components. The first is what we’re calling “evergreen content,” which is an application that displays data-influenced imagery. We juxtaposed that against depictions of the region [created] by three artists.
In the evergreen content, there are six scenes, each one inspired by a different area of our region: forests, mountains, waterfalls, coast, desert, night sky. But they’re actually not videos.
Fernanda Navilli: We used Unreal Engine, which is software used to create 3-D video games, to make a cinematographic piece that is as realistic as can be. I and my creative partner, Augusta Dayton, traveled more than 900 miles across Oregon and hiked for more than 40 miles to make sure we captured every detail correctly, from the way the light hits the forests around Mt. Hood to the texture of the Painted Hills at sunset.
As time passes throughout the day, our content changes, too. The sun actually moves in the scenes. If it's raining outside in Portland, it will be raining in our forests.
Who are the artists who have created video pieces for the wall?
Martha: All three are masterful digital storytellers. Ivan McClellan, who also organizes Oregon’s 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo, has become known for his photographs of Black cowboys all over America. This is his first film, a vignette about Black cowboys in Oregon. Over the course of the year, works from Rebecca Méndez and Brad Johnson will appear as well.
There’s no single voice that can represent what it means to be from this area. We were very excited about the opportunity for multi-voice storytelling.
We’ve heard you included “easter eggs,” or little details, for people to notice if they’re paying attention.
Fernanda: In the forest scene, the growing chanterelles reflect how humid it is outside and how busy the airport is. If today has rained, for instance, you would see more mushrooms. Similarly, in the waterfall scene, the number of butterflies represents how busy the airport is. There’s a puffin on the coast, and a few deer that you can spot. Some of them are pretty hidden. It’s going to be fun to see if people find them or not.
What's your hope for how travelers experience “Extraordinary Windows”?
Fernanda: I hope that it will bring them a moment of pause, where you can stop all the turbulence of traveling and feel really present for a few moments. If I were to hope for a lasting impact, it would be for people to feel how big and how diverse nature is here.
Martha: We hope people will feel proud to live in this place. And if they’ve been here only once, and they only got to the coast, if they see Punchbowl Falls they’ll say to themselves, “Oh, I really want to come back to Oregon again.” We’re also hoping that the artists’ work will make them want to find out more about this region, which has so much to offer.
Tom Strong - Chief Executive Officer, Skokomish Indian Tribe, Skokomish Washington
"We're foresters in that we're stewards," says Tom Strong, Chief Executive Officer of the Skokomish Indian Tribe, which manages 2,000 acres of Washington forests for its 800 tribal members. "We're not cutting and planting, seeking to develop our lands into a commodity. Instead, we're doing it to restore the forest."
Over the past 100 years, the two dams on the North Fork Skokomish River have had a major impact on the entire ecosystem of Skokomish land. "We want to restore the entire Hood Canal watershed," Tom says. The forests are just one part.
Selling wood from Douglas fir trees the tribe selectively thinned will help fund this restoration. "We don't have an endless amount of money," Tom says. "But we would like to think we've got an endless amount of time."
Ben Hayes - Co-owner, Hyla Woods, Cherry Grove, Oregon
Ben Hayes is a sixth-generation forester who manages Hyla Woods, outside Cherry Grove, Oregon, with his father, Peter. He is also a sustainable-forestry consultant. At Hyla Woods, the Hayes experiment with selective thinning and patch cutting, instead of clear-cutting, to foster diversity of tree species, ages, and sizes.
"When you look 100 years out, having greater complexity in terms of species and the structure of the forest, you can increase the forest's resilience in the face of extreme weather and drought," he says.
"We're working toward a model of forestry that you could practice for the perpetual future,” Ben says. “It's a model that lifts up both rural and urban communities and the ecosystems we rely on."
Richard and Ann Hanschu - Owners, Doneen, Forest Grove, Oregon
Ann Hanschu's father first bought land outside Forest Grove, Oregon, in 1956. Ann grew up trailing her father around the forest, learning from him. The Hanschus now have three children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Richard says, "We're planting trees that our grandchildren will see the profits from — not even our children. It's long-range thinking."
"A lot of the timber is older,” Ann adds. “We're laddering it with trees of different age groups — some 30-40 years old, some 10-20 years old — so the land can continue to produce a sustainable amount of wood."
Herman Flamenco - Central Cascades Conservation Forester, The Nature Conservancy, Cle Elum, Washington
"We know historically that the stands we're working on were overstocked," says Herman Flamenco, Central Cascades conservation forester for the Nature Conservancy, of the 50,000 acres outside Cle Elum, Washington, the organization manages. Thinning the trees welcomes in light and biodiversity.
Some loggers in the region worry that this low-impact approach to forestry yields less lumber, and less profit, than clear-cutting. One local outfit took on this labor-intensive challenge, selectively harvesting Doug fir trees from steep slopes.
"Western Washington is wetter. In our dry climate, there's less moisture and increased fire risk," Herman says. "As we look at climate change, it's just going to get dryer. We want to make sure we can keep our forests around."
In the 1950s, back when people wore fancy hats to the airport, PDX’s main terminal had brown terrazzo floors.
By the 1970s, blue carpet sporting the old Port of Portland logo replaced the terrazzo. The airport was so concerned about keeping the carpet clean that we banned gum-chewing indoors.
In the 1980s, PDX replaced the ski-chalet paneling in the Clocktower Plaza with high ceilings and skylights, but kept the blue carpet.
SRG Partnership, a Portland-based architecture firm, designed the pattern for the now-iconic carpet on the layout of the airport runways.
The Clocktower Plaza, post-1988, with the iconic carpet.
The Clocktower Plaza (before its demolition in 2021-22) with the new carpet.
The flexible interior spaces were designed with the future of travel in mind — and to give you plenty of comfortable spots to recharge before your next flight.
Two permanent installations from acclaimed contemporary artist Jacob Hashimoto hang like clouds above the concourse’s common areas.
Shops and restaurants are clustered together like city blocks, with a pedestrian-friendly scale and lots of room to spread out.
PDX’s swanky new bar, Juliett, honors women in aviation with mid-20th-century style, top-class cocktails, and local wines and beers.
Sky-high windows fill the interior with daylight while maximizing the concourse extension’s energy efficiency.
At the east end of the concourse, a wall of windows opens up this epic view of Mt. Hood, where you’ll definitely want to pose for a photo before takeoff.
The Concourse E extension project is the dedicated home for Southwest Airlines at PDX, with six new gates.
Remember the view of Mt. Hood on Concourse E? It’s coming back, brighter than ever.
Tillamook’s menu includes the best of the classics with fried cheese curds and a signature grilled cheese.
Calliope takes its name from one of Oregon’s native hummingbirds and showcases creative and playful keepsakes.
Grab your favorite book, magazine or newspaper at Your Northwest Travel Mart.
Concourse B's 38-foot-high ceilings and 6,900 square feet of windows don't just let light in. They let you watch the airport in action. "I think this airport gave us a chance to celebrate the romance of flight," says Gene Sandoval of ZGF, the architecture firm that designed the new concourse.
ZGF Architects was inspired to bring the Pacific Northwest’s natural world indoors. You can contemplate the plants hanging from the ceiling and the Oregon white-oak walls as you relax in B’s comfy new seats. (Bonus: More power adapters!)
RYAN! Feddersen’s art installation, which fills the concourse, is made up of three interconnected pieces. The “Sentinel” landscapes and abstract “Habitat Tiles” are pictured here.
RYAN! is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. She draws inspiration from the region’s traditions and landscape for these pieces, which include the gently rolling “Cloud Walk” overhead.
Nicole and David Mouton, in partnership with HMSHost, opened an outpost of Portland’s beloved Screen Door Restaurant on Concourse B. Find Screen Door’s legendary fried chicken and waffles here from breakfast until dinnertime.
Sam and Nick Purvis, the brothers behind Good Coffee, source fresh coffee beans and teas from all over the world. Pick up a pastry or a bag of beans, too!
Our new rental car center opened in November 2021.
All rental car brands are now on-site at PDX – no more shuttles to pick up your car.
Perez Westbrooks' colorful digital mural celebrates Northwest flora.
Ben Butler's swirling wood sculpture is made from reclaimed Douglas fir.
The new facility also adds 30 ADA parking spots, more than 30 electric vehicle charging stations, and 2,200 long-term parking spaces to the airport.
Adding more lanes to our new, relocated exit toll plaza helps you leave PDX more quickly.
Every design decision we make is about keeping the heart and soul of PDX intact. You’ll see homages to all the things you love about our city and region in the new airport designs.
You’ll notice subtle nods to the Pacific Northwest landscape throughout the space. Natural light, living trees, and native Oregon foliage may give you the feeling of walking through a park.
The new terminal’s wooden ceiling, made from sustainably grown, local Doug fir, might remind you of daylight filtering through forest canopies.
This will be your new view when entering the spacious ticket lobby at PDX. The nine-acre wood roof is so distinctive you’ll be able to spot it from the air.
The ripples and currents of pristine Northwest rivers inspired the new terminal’s curvy profile.
Expanding the heart of PDX creates more space for our beloved local shops and restaurants — not to mention local humans (and visitors, too).