Posts in the category "Architecture":

I love hanging around airports, of course, but I also find bliss when let loose in small museums filled with odd and unusual artifacts or if there’s a wacky roadside distraction somewhere and I’ve got the keys to the car.

So I’m fortunate to be able to produce radio features and write books about my discoveries. More than two hundred of my favorite offbeat attractions in Oregon are in the newly updated Oregon Curiosities book you see pictured in the craftily-titled Buy My Books section here on this site. There are an equal number of unusual people, places and things in the Washington Curiosities book I’m starting to update right now.

One of the aviation-related places in the Oregon Curiosities book is The Bomber Restaurant complex in Milwaukie, about six miles south of Portland.

From 1947 until 1991 this vintage World War II B-17G four-engine bomber served as shelter for a forty-pump independent gas station that was one of the top performers in the country. When the gas station closed, the bomber fell on hard times and for years the plane was just a sad-looking roadside attraction suffering from bird poop, vandalism, and Oregon’s rainy climate.

Now restoration of the bomber is under way. Her nose is all shiny and new and on display inside the on-site WWII-themed Wings of Freedom Showcase. And while the gas station is long gone, you can fill up your stomach at the memorabilia-packed Bomber Restaurant, where the menu includes Bomblettes (omelettes) and Bombarded Hash Browns for breakfast, and Tokyo Rose BLTs and Bomberburgers for lunch and dinner.

If you want to see The Bomber for yourself, be sure to enter the Oregon Mt. Hood Territory’s Secret Sweet Spots contest. Each week you’ll be asked to answer a (very easy) question about a “hidden gem” in the region. You’ll find the answers in the short videos on the Mt. Hood Territory website.

Of course, one of those Secret Sweet Spots is The Bomber.

Categories: Architecture, Aviation history, Contests, Exhibits, Museums, Restaurants, aviation
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On Valentine’s Day, volunteers at Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) handed out 1700 red and white carnations to arriving and departing passengers.

(Photo courtesy Jacksonsville International Airport )

On Tuesday (February 16, 2010) Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Terminal E expansion, which includes seven gates for Southwest Airlines and several new food and retail outlets, including a news/gift shop, a McDonalds, and a sit-down restaurant called Cantina Laredo.  The new expansion also brings new artwork to the airport, courtesy of Philadelphia’s Percent for Art Program. Look for Cloudsphere, by Philadelphia artist Mei-ling Hom in the rotunda.

(Photo courtesy Philadelphia International Airport )

And congratulations to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): it’s Paper Runway exhibit of wearable paper clothing and accessories made with everything from banana leaf fibers to recycled cotton rags and coffee filters, won an award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries.

Look for “Paper Runway” in the cases in the walkway connecting the main security area and Concourse T.  But hurry: the exhibit will only be there through March.

Categories: Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Architecture, Art, Exhibits, Openings
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Last week the Dulles International Airport (IAD) started using its AeroTrain airport train system to replace some, but not all of the mobile lounges that have been taking passengers between the Main Terminal and the Midfield Concourses for years.

I really like those kooky lounges. Riding on them always offers a unique view of the airport.  And there’s a black and white picture somewhere in the airport’s archives that explains the “lounge” part perfectly: it shows females attendants serving drinks to passengers on their way to the plane.

Even this photo shows travelers who seem to have no worries at all about making their connecting flights.

There are certainly some upsides to the AeroTrain.

One benefit is that right now there’s a photography exhibit in the tunnel connecting the temporary Concourse C with the C-Gates AeroTrain station.

(Photo by: Kanji Takeno)

The exhibit “Washington, DC: Through Our Eyes,” includes photos shot by members of the White House News Photographers Association. The 44 photos currently on display are just the first group of more than 200 photos that will be displayed on a rotating basis.

And,  if you find yourself with a long layover at Dulles International Airport (IAD) and have wrung all the excitement out of riding the AeroTrain and looking at the photo exhibit, then check out the cool stuff at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just down the road.

The museum is big enough for the to Smithsonian to display thousands of aviation and space artifacts that just won’t fit on the National Mall.  Like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress  “Enola Gay.”

Categories: Architecture, Aviation history, Exhibits, Getting around, Layover, Lounges, Transportation
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New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB) may be unique among airports in having a gallery space open to the public and an on-site curator who is also an artist.  So it’s always a treat when a new exhibition kicks off.

The newest one, Material Witness, is no exception.

(Model City, 2009, Assorted study models, cardboard, paper, plastic, metal, glue, tape)

Produced in cooperation with the nearby Rensselaer Schools of Architecture, and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the exhibit includes drawings, photographs, study models and site-specific constructions, including floor-to-ceiling “trash walls” that reflect the possibilities found in discarded or recycled materials.

(Trash Walls, (detail), 2009, found material constructions)

Material Witness is in the Albany International Airport Gallery, pre-security on the third floor of the terminal through June 20, 2010.

Categories: Architecture, Art, Exhibits
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I spent much of the day yesterday writing a column for MSNBC.com about the pros and cons of airport body scanners.

That column, which posts Thursday, January 14^th, 2010, focuses on some of the privacy issues surrounding the “virtual strip search” aspect of these machines.

I didn’t have room for in the story for the comments of airport terminal planner and designer, Pat Askew, from Perkins+Will.

We don’t think of it right away, but Askew points out that these big, expensive body scanner machines will not only change the TSA procedures, but also have an impact on the look and layout of present – and future – airport terminals.

Askew says:

• Body scanning machines take more space, especially width-wise, than do the current magnetometers (or walk-through metal detectors).  It’s already hard to find space in existing terminals for all the necessary equipment they needs to be there;
• Processing rates are greater with body scanners than with metal detectors. This means longer lines, more machines – and more required space;
• Explosive detection devices for carry-ons will soon be required. This equipment will be smaller, but similar to the technology currently used for checked luggage. It will replace the current x-ray machines used to examine carry-ons and operate in much the same way, but may be larger and slower….and need more space.

So next time you’re Stuck at the Airport, take a good look around. That great piece of public art in the terminal may soon need to make way for a hulking piece of security equipment.

Categories: Architecture, Security, TSA, Terrorism
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