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The Portland Airport Carpet Project

Started by Mesozoic Mister Nigel, July 12, 2015, 06:39:14 PM

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Mesozoic Mister Nigel

I don't know if any of you guys are familiar with the slightly baffling love affair that Portlanders have with the absolutely hideous PDX airport carpet, or the outcry and grief  that has ensued over the fact that it was recently replaced, but I just found out that there is an art gallery exhibit honoring and eulogizing the iconic carpet of PDX. http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/07/pdx_carpet_exhibit.html



I can't say that I completely understand it, but there you go.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


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#1
I think it has to do with many airports looking very similar so we get attached to the parts that make it unique.

The carpet is one of the first indications that you've arrived in Portland when you get off the plane, so for Portlanders returning from many flights at nondescript first world airports, there has to be a Pavlovian link with seeing the carpet and the feeling of returning to your home town.

It also is characteristic of the design language of the late 80's and early 90's, and echoes the visuals of 90's MAX trains and buses. So this powerful sense of place wasn't just based on it being an initial cue as you entered the airport (though I'd argue that is a major part of its appeal), but also a motif that rhymed off of the larger public experience in Portland.

Throw in the cognitive dissonance of jet travel wrecking all of Portlander's efforts at being sustainable and carbon neutral and I think you have a very emotionally charged symbol. It's a 3-hit combo right in the feels. So a sense of home, nostalgia, and complex feelings surrounding sustainability are all wrapped up in a goofy carpet design.
P E R   A S P E R A   A D   A S T R A

Cain

That or the lead levels in Portland's water are getting too high again.

Doktor Howl

The airport carpet was my second clue that Portland was awful.
Molon Lube

Richter

Any good sanity damage campaign should start out with horrible flooring.  I've kicked off "Holiday in Carcossa" that way twice
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on May 22, 2015, 03:00:53 AM
Anyone ever think about how Richter inhabits the same reality as you and just scream and scream and scream, but in a good way?   :lulz:

Friendly Neighborhood Mentat

Eater of Clowns

I always just figured all of Portland was carpeted like that.
Quote from: Pippa Twiddleton on December 22, 2012, 01:06:36 AM
EoC, you are the bane of my existence.

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 07, 2014, 01:18:23 AM
EoC doesn't make creepy.

EoC makes creepy worse.

Quote
the afflicted persons get hold of and consume carrots even in socially quite unacceptable situations.

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on July 13, 2015, 03:52:05 AM
I always just figured all of Portland was carpeted like that.

It is.  Except for the "green lane", which is carpeted with dead cyclists.  On account of the "bicycle lane" is also the "electric totally silent tram lane".
Molon Lube

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 13, 2015, 03:54:38 AM
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on July 13, 2015, 03:52:05 AM
I always just figured all of Portland was carpeted like that.

It is.  Except for the "green lane", which is carpeted with dead cyclists.  On account of the "bicycle lane" is also the "electric totally silent tram lane".

That seemed like a good idea in the planning meetings, I bet.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: N E T on July 12, 2015, 11:24:55 PM
I think it has to do with many airports looking very similar so we get attached to the parts that make it unique.

The carpet is one of the first indications that you've arrived in Portland when you get off the plane, so for Portlanders returning from many flights at nondescript first world airports, there has to be a Pavlovian link with seeing the carpet and the feeling of returning to your home town.

It also is characteristic of the design language of the late 80's and early 90's, and echoes the visuals of 90's MAX trains and buses. So this powerful sense of place wasn't just based on it being an initial cue as you entered the airport (though I'd argue that is a major part of its appeal), but also a motif that rhymed off of the larger public experience in Portland.

Throw in the cognitive dissonance of jet travel wrecking all of Portlander's efforts at being sustainable and carbon neutral and I think you have a very emotionally charged symbol. It's a 3-hit combo right in the feels. So a sense of home, nostalgia, and complex feelings surrounding sustainability are all wrapped up in a goofy carpet design.

Luckily, the new carpet is equally absolutely hideous, so the legacy can carry on.

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

They basically took the old carpet design and added a sense of motion sickness.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Richter on July 13, 2015, 03:34:02 AM
Any good sanity damage campaign should start out with horrible flooring.  I've kicked off "Holiday in Carcossa" that way twice

You're the monster who designed it, aren't you?
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 13, 2015, 01:30:43 AM
The airport carpet was my second clue that Portland was awful.

Wait, what was the first?
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Johnny

Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on July 14, 2015, 12:08:23 AM
Quote from: N E T on July 12, 2015, 11:24:55 PM
I think it has to do with many airports looking very similar so we get attached to the parts that make it unique.

The carpet is one of the first indications that you've arrived in Portland when you get off the plane, so for Portlanders returning from many flights at nondescript first world airports, there has to be a Pavlovian link with seeing the carpet and the feeling of returning to your home town.

It also is characteristic of the design language of the late 80's and early 90's, and echoes the visuals of 90's MAX trains and buses. So this powerful sense of place wasn't just based on it being an initial cue as you entered the airport (though I'd argue that is a major part of its appeal), but also a motif that rhymed off of the larger public experience in Portland.

Throw in the cognitive dissonance of jet travel wrecking all of Portlander's efforts at being sustainable and carbon neutral and I think you have a very emotionally charged symbol. It's a 3-hit combo right in the feels. So a sense of home, nostalgia, and complex feelings surrounding sustainability are all wrapped up in a goofy carpet design.

Luckily, the new carpet is equally absolutely hideous, so the legacy can carry on.



Needs more neural network dogs.
<<My image in some places, is of a monster of some kind who wants to pull a string and manipulate people. Nothing could be further from the truth. People are manipulated; I just want them to be manipulated more effectively.>>

-B.F. Skinner

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Eater of Clowns

Quote from: Pippa Twiddleton on December 22, 2012, 01:06:36 AM
EoC, you are the bane of my existence.

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 07, 2014, 01:18:23 AM
EoC doesn't make creepy.

EoC makes creepy worse.

Quote
the afflicted persons get hold of and consume carrots even in socially quite unacceptable situations.