SPOKANE, Wash. — David Wang, associate professor of architecture at Washington State University Spokane, has just published “Sounding Spokane: Perspectives on the Built Environment of a Regional City.”
Wang, who served as the book’s editor, is also the co-author with Linda Groat of “Architectural Research Methods” (John Wiley and Sons, 2002), the first book to focus specifically on research methods for architects.
“Sounding Spokane,” published by EWU Press, features chapters by WSU architecture faculty members David Wang, Matt Melcher, Doug Menzies, Ayad Rahmani and Keith Ballantyne, along with a cover design by WSU architecture graduate Sam Castro. It also includes a chapter by Frank Swoboda, producer of the Spokane-made film “The Basket.”
Other chapters in the book focus on historic preservation (the Davenport Hotel), the North-South Freeway, the Gorge Park, Spokane’s neighborhoods, the Fox Theatre and a projection of what Spokane will be like 100 years from now. EWU Press describes the book as “the first book of its kind to view the western mid-size regional city as a complex and unique phenomenon.”
A book signing is scheduled at Auntie’s Book Store on Sept. 30. The book is available at Auntie’s and at the AIA Bookstore; Wang is a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Wang coordinates the Annual Community Design and Construction Charrette, conducted each year by the Interdisciplinary Design Institute at WSU Spokane. The charrette, an intensive student design challenge, examines a project of community interest for which students develop design concepts. The 2003 charrette, which concluded Aug. 29, focused on the concept of a Spokane Gateway along Division Street, from the freeway to the river.
Web sites:
Interdisciplinary Design Institute: www.idi.spokane.wsu.edu
WSU Spokane: www.spokane.wsu.edu
News release on 2003 charrette: http://wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=4029 (Aug. 15, 2003)
News release on Wang’s first book: http://wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=2934 (April 15, 2002)
EWU Press page on Sounding Spokane: http://www.ewu.edu/dcesso/press/nonfiction/soundingspokane.htm
