New Portland airport

The New PDX Part 2

Dear Liza,

Besides its amazing ceiling and comfortable, interesting seating, the new Main Terminal at PDX has lots of things to enjoy.

All of the shops are local! Country Cat, which was a favorite cafe in Montavilla for years, still uses its original logo. Portland Coffee Roasters, Loyal Legion Beer Hall and Paper Ephiphanies all offer goods made here in Portland. It is all at “Street Pricing”, too. No jacked-up 7$ bottles of water!

Orax, which sells handmade leather goods, is not only local, it is history making! Owner Carmen Martinez told me that is the first Latina owned shop in any airport in the country! (I have not verified her claim.)

And there is art! This gallery above the bleacher type seating features Yoonhi Choi and her process for creating the frosted glass walls used in the Arrivals corridor. Since we were not Arrivals, we could only see a few yards of it…. But it is stunning!

Gently shifting video screens high overhead provide visually interesting but restful scenes of forests, flowers, and waterfalls.

There are even delightfully bright mosaics in small corridors the way to the restrooms.

We won’t get to see the “Past Security” part of the airport until Spring, but just the front terminal is a jewel, and well worth a drive out or a trip in the Red line train.

Love,

Grandma Judy

The New PDX Part 1

Dear Liza,

Auntie Bridgett flew down to visit her family in San Diego this week. This gave us the perfect excuse to see the newly remodeled Portland Airport Terminal.

Our airport here in Portland has been under construction for years, and I have always found it to be a bit of tangle. But the signs all over the terminals told me it was going to be wonderful, organic, and local. And they weren’t wrong.

I was pleased, amazed, and delighted. The first thing you will notice (and keep staring at, from every angle) is the ceiling. It is an enormous waving sea of timber that floats over the giant open space of the Main Terminal.

The ceiling is made of glulam, a light weight, super strong material made from wood all harvested within a hundred miles of Portland. It is supported by giant, tree-like Y supports.

The floor is delightfully flow-y but low-key, as if it doesn’t want to detract from that ceiling.

The place was pretty busy when we were there, but the noise was minimal. The wavy, open ceiling seems to soak up the sounds of rolling suitcases and crying children and the inevitable echoes. We sat comfortably on a beautifully designed set of bleachers for quite a while and could whisper to each other.

There is so much more I want to tell you about the new airport! See you tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy