Client: Salt Lake City International Airport
Location: Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Completion date: 2020
Artwork budget: $5,000,000
Project Team
Lead Artist
Gordon Huether
Gordon Huether + Partners, Inc.
Architect
HOK
HOK
Client
Salt Lake City International Airport
Contractor/Fabricator
FabriTec Structures, LLC
Fabricator
Rainier Industries
Overview
After witnessing the color variations and shadows of the canyons of Utah, Huether used this concept to recreate an indoor canyon in the Salt Lake City Airport, mimicking the shapes and striations of the rocks on the airport walls. The new terminal in the airport resembles the shape of a canyon in that it begins with a vast open space, pinches in the middle, and opens up again. To enhance the canyon-like architectural features of the new terminal, Huether incorporated artistic designs that would bring the beauty of Utah’s canyon landscape indoors.Goals
Huether was brought into this project in early design development in order to have artwork architecturally integrated into the building. The main goal was to bring the outside in and grant a sense of place for visitors to the state of Utah and create an ambience reminiscent of the canyons of Utah.
Process
This project involved in-depth collaboration with airport executives, the architectural firm on the project - HOK, design teams, fabrication companies, etc. With such a large-scale project, many professionals came together to make such a big idea into a reality.
Additional Information
The Canyon is one of several very large-scale, structurally integrated artworks into the whole Salt Lake City Airport Redevelopment Program. A counterpart to this installation, Canyon 2.0, will be installed in the second phase of the project, into a concourse that is still under construction and is set to be complete in 2024.