Psst! The carpet’s back
We love that you love our carpet.
And not just for your shoe selfies. You’ve copied the 1988 PDX carpet onto earrings, sneakers, coasters, and even the Blazers’ jerseys. The design has become as iconic as the White Stag Sign and “Keep Portland Weird” bumper stickers.
That’s why, when we redesigned the main terminal, we decided we needed to bring the iconic carpet back, healing the wounds we inflicted on Portland’s civic pride during the Great PDX Carpet Replacement Tragedy of 2015.
You can now find the old/new carpet at five locations in the main terminal. When the PDX upgrades are complete in early 2026, you’ll find five more.
Look for the carpet in spaces where people stop or rest. In areas where people move more quickly through the terminal, we’ve installed terrazzo and white-oak flooring—smoother surfaces that are easier for wheelchairs, assistive devices, and roller bags to navigate.
Have fun carpet spotting, Portland! Tag us (@pdxairport) when you post your shoe selfie.
A little PDX carpet history
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.
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.
When the airport’s main terminal opened in 1956, the original floor was brown terrazzo, later covered by a blue carpet patterned with the Port of Portland's logo. In 1988, PDX swapped that design out for the now-iconic one, designed by a local architecture firm.
After almost 30 years, though, the wool carpet—whose color varied from teal to green, depending on the manufacturer—was so threadbare that our maintenance crews used markers to color in the bare spots.
In 2015, Vince Granato, now head of PDX Next special projects, held a press conference announcing the airport was replacing the carpet. He was surprised to find a room filled with reporters. "I don't think any of us anticipated the response from the community," he says.
Now we know better. That said, we’re not going to replace the 2015 carpet in all the concourses until it reaches the end of its useful life. Reducing waste: another iconic Portland value.
