SPOKANE, Wash. Culture and design are both dynamic and multi-faceted and the Interdisciplinary Design Institute at Washington State University Spokane will focus its first week on how the two intersect during its annual Design Research Focus Week Jan. 13-16. The week includes a charrettea 30-hour design competition for studentsand its Fifth Annual Design Research Conference.
The charrette kicks off the week with a student challenge to offer innovative design solutions in “bridging” the segregated zones within Spokane’s University District. Students from a variety of design disciplines will form teams charged with interpreting what “bridging” means in design terms and successfully formulating a unified identity for the University District.
The challenge will begin at noon Jan. 13 and the final projects will be due 30 hours later. Each team’s concept will have two opportunities to win awards: Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.People’s Choice Awards sponsored by the Associated Students of WSU Spokane (ASWSUS) and Friday, Jan. 16 at noon.Design Research Conference Awards judged by invited speakers and paper presenters attending the conference. Posters will be pinned up for viewing in the South Campus Facility Court at 5 p.m. Jan. 14.
“This is a great opportunity to link the various cultures represented in our city academic, medical, commercial, residential, city governance, with perspectives brought by visiting scholars and paper presenters from all over the world,” said David Wang, professor for the WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute.
Spokane’s Mayor Mary Verner will open the conference Jan. 15 followed by an interactive platform of invited speakers and paper presenters representing seven countries and a wide range of disciplines. Throughout the two-day period, papers will be presented from 23 selected individuals including a session in which dissertation research topics of doctoral students in the Design Institute’s Doctor of Design program will be presented.
“This conference has grown in stature over the last five years to attract renowned scholars and professionals from all over the world,” said Nancy Blossom, director of the WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute. “Dr. Wang has developed an impressive agenda of diverse topics and presenters and the dialogue among student faculty and guests will be dynamic. This is a unique opportunity for the campus and the community.”
The campus community and public are invited to attend a free keynote address on Culture and Design by Jamer Hunt at 9 a.m. Jan. 16 on the Riverpoint Campus in the Phase I Classroom Building Auditorium, room 122 at 668 N Riverpoint Boulevard, Spokane. Hunt is an associate professor of Transdisciplinary Design and director of Interdisciplinary Graduate Initiatives at Parsons The New School of Design in New York. His teaching and professional work both focus on design as a means for energizing the public realm and he is currently developing a graduate program in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons.
Event parking is available at the meters in the green parking lots, in the Pay and Display lot located just off of Spokane Falls Boulevard to the west of the South Campus Facility, or by purchasing a permit through Parking Operations in the South Campus Facility behind the Bookie at 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.
About the Interdisciplinary Design Institute
The Interdisciplinary Design Institute at WSU Spokane advances knowledge to enhance the quality of people’s lives in the built and natural environment through interdisciplinary instruction, research and community service. Research and design at the institute focus in particular on people and place, design history and community service learning, with sustainable design being the theme throughout the curriculum. Faculty and students from all design disciplines are brought together for a one-of-a-kind opportunity in higher learning and discovery. Internationally renowned faculty and students from architecture, interior design and landscape architecture work collaboratively to improve people’s lives through the advancement of design. This distinctive interdisciplinary experience, combined with state-of-the-art facilities located near downtown Spokane, creates an outstanding professional academic and research environment.
About WSU Spokane
WSU Spokane is the urban campus of Washington State University, a land-grant research university founded in 1890. The campus features advanced studies and research in health sciences and health professions, the design disciplines, education, social and policy sciences and science and technology. WSU is one of just 95 public and private research universities with very high research activity, according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifications. In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranks WSU as one of the top public research universities in the nation.
Web sites:
Interdisciplinary Design Institute: www.idi.spokane.wsu.edu
Design Research Focus Week: www.spokane.wsu.edu/Academics/Design/ResearchService/focus_week/index.asp
WSU Spokane: www.spokane.wsu.edu
Past news release on Interdisciplinary Design: www.news.spokane.wsu.edu
