Awning, Work of art in Portland, US

Awning is a 60-foot (18 m) painted aluminum sculpture by Canadian artist Douglas Senft, installed in 1976 near Southwest 3rd Avenue and Southwest Market Street in downtown Portland, Oregon. Mounted to the side of 200 Market along a pedestrian trail extending Third Avenue, it consists of a long horizontal canopy of closely spaced, tilted rectangular aluminum slats painted bright yellow, arranged in a sawtooth pattern with curved ribs beneath.

Awning was installed in 1976, when its creator Douglas Senft was 26. The Portland Development Commission chose it from more than 200 proposals for art meant to humanize the modern architecture of the Portland Center. It is now part of the Regional Arts & Culture Council collection.

Awning was chosen from more than 200 proposals in a Portland Development Commission competition to "humanize the modern architecture" of the Portland Center. The piece is now in the collection of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. In 2011, Willamette Week's Ben Waterhouse called it an "eyesore" and noted there is no plaque identifying the artist.

The installation is located in an accessible area of the city and easy to reach on foot. Visitors can view the structure from different angles and examine the metal framework details up close.

The aluminum construction redefined how design guidelines could be combined with artistic ambitions in urban planning. The project shows that public art and city codes do not have to clash, but can work together.