Client: Salt Lake City Department of Airports

Overview

“The Peaks” is a monumental sculpture rising 90-feet at the gateway to Salt Lake City International Airport; it is a tribute to the exquisite natural beauty of Utah. Inspired by the grandeur of the Wasatch Mountains, the five metal peaks pay homage to the five major Native American tribes of Utah: the Ute, Diné (Navajo), Paiute, Goshute, and Shoshone. Additionally, it symbolizes the five essential elements of the natural world: air, earth, fire, space, and water.

Each of the five towering Peaks is constructed from weathering Corten steel. The surface of these steel structures features an abstracted graphic of the world map, with the solid areas denoting landmass and the expanded metal symbolizing the vastness of our oceans. At the pinnacle of the tallest peak, a cast glass orb marks the geographical location of Utah, providing visitors with a distinctive “You Are Here” moment.

The tallest of the Peaks reaches an impressive height of 90 feet, which is roughly equivalent to that of a 10-story building, while the smallest stands at 39 feet. Collectively, these sculptures weigh approximately 75 tons.

Goals

The goal was to create an iconic beacon as the gateway to/from the airport.

"Most large U.S. airports have an entry feature that welcomes travelers,” said Bill Wyatt, Executive Director, Salt Lake City Department of Airports. “The Peaks" marks the entrance to the airport and highlights Utah’s magnificent mountains while paying homage to the original custodians of the land.”

The Peaks, the largest of Huether’s several large-scale installations, is inspired by the Salt Lake City community and surrounding landscape. The sculpture draws the natural beauty of Utah into the new airport experience.

The overarching strategy involved early integration of architecturally integrated artwork to enhance the airport for its 20 million annual passengers.

Maureen Riley (prior Airport Executive Director), stated “We want to make sure that the Salt Lake City International Airport is a memorable experience. Gordon Huether has been engaged to integrate structural art into the design and has been working very closely with HOK architects to design art features that can be incorporated early on."

From the onset, this project has been a close collaboration with the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, the airport’s architectural firm, HOK, and many others on the design and construction team.

Process

As one can imagine, designing and building a new $4.1 billion international airport is quite an undertaking and requires immense oversight and an exceptional team infrastructure.

Fortunately, Gordon was brought in on the project very early on so that all the artwork could truly be incorporated into the overall design of the airport experience.

Gordon and his team were involved in thousands of hours of meetings and collaborative sessions with airport leadership and other stakeholders. Mutual respect and excellent communication is required.

When complete, the almost 10 year project will result in seven (7) structurally integrated, large-scale installations throughout the airport.

Additional Information

Though we are highlighting these team members, there are numerous many others who contributed to the successful outcome of this massive project: Gordon Huether Studio team - various support Gordon Huether – artist Jason Scott – Project Manager Brian Scharf – Digital Designer, Brave Design Sebastian Willeke – Engineer and Fabricator SLCDA Bill Wyatt – Executive Director, Salt Lake City Department of Aviation Mike Williams – Program Director, Salt Lake City Department of Aviation Cal Smith – Deputy Program Director, Salt Lake City Department of Aviation Tad Kaczor – Deputy Director, Salt Lake City Department of Aviation Brady Frederickson, Director of Planning and Environmental Brian Butler – CFO, Salt Lake City Department of Aviation Construction Cameron Balfour – Superintendent, HD Construction