To be held Oct. 17-20, the week’s events will offer workshops for health care and design professionals, faculty and students, a student design competition involving both design and nursing students, and a showing of Fritz Lang’s classic film “Metropolis.”
A registration fee of $50 for the week includes continuing education units from the American Institute of Architects or Interior Design Educators Council and entrance to all events and activities. For a complete schedule of events and registration information, visit www.idi.spokane.wsu.edu.
About the Symposium
The intersection of urban design, public health, sustainability, accessible design and other cultural factors provide opportunities for research and creative thinking about ways of making cities and structures more conducive to individual well-being, symposium organizers said.
Panels and presentations will address a wide range of topics that explore questions of diversity, design and health:
- Work conducted in
- Implications of traditional building types and streetscapes for long-term prevention of unsheltered homelessness and associated health risks
- Planning and design to promote social activity in older adults, using a multidimensional approach rooted in an understanding of social capital
- New models in the design of health care settings
- “Fractal processing”the idea that, as biological beings, humans have neurosensory systems attuned to the structures of nature and that designed settings can “act like” natural ones and thus produce psychological benefits
Selected highlights
Monday, Oct. 17
Richard Jackson, M.D.
Author of “Creating a healthy environment: The impact of the built environment on public health” (Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse monograph series)
Formerly of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Richard Jackson, M.D., is the former California State Public Health Officer and the former director of the
During his tenure at NCEH, he became convinced that a critically important and under-appreciated environmental health issue is that of the built environment: our homes, buildings, sidewalks, bicycle trails, roads, creek beds and water systems, parks and play areas, and cities and towns.
Dr. Jackson has collaborated with groups and individuals from many disciplines–planners, architects, engineers, academicians and policymakers–to explore the implications of urban sprawl on the nation’s environmental health.
Tuesday, Oct. 18
Cynthia Leibrock
Principal and founder of Easy Access to Health
Cynthia Leibrock is the principal and founder of Easy Access to Health,
Leibrock has had more than 30 years of design experience, specializing in access for the past 20 years. She offers consulting services in planning for independent living, patient-centered design detailing for healthcare, product analysis and judiciary witness services. Prominent projects include the
Leibrock has served as a lobbyist for people with mental disabilities, as a judiciary witness in code compliance and accessibility cost estimation and as a research associate on the dean’s staff of
Wednesday, Oct. 19
An Integrated Design and Research Framework for a Green Community Health Clinic
Dina Battisto, assistant professor,
Dina Battisto is an assistant professor in the architecture and health graduate program at
Battisto, who presents nationally and internally, publishes work on therapeutic environments, green health care design, aging in place and design-based research. She holds professional degrees in architecture and a doctoral degree in architecture, with a specialization in environment and behavior studies and health care design.
Prior to joining the faculty at Clemson, she worked as a senior management consultant with several health care organizations in the areas of strategic planning, facility planning and architectural programming.
The symposium is intended to demonstrate the relationship of research and practice in the design process, to increase interaction between academic disciplines in design and health sciences, and to promote intellectual engagement between design professionals and academics. Graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from the opportunity to learn from national leaders in the design and health disciplines, as well as to explore the interaction of health and design in
The symposium received sponsorship support from the WSU Office of Research, the Health Research and
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 a sustainability theme throughout the curriculum. Students in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture study at the institute. Graduate degrees in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture, and the Doctor of Design Degree, are offered at WSU Spokane.
Web sites:
- Interdisciplinary Design Institute: www.idi.spokane.wsu.edu
- WSU
- Past news release on Interdisciplinary Design: www.news.spokane.wsu.edu
- Dr. Richard Jackson’s monograph on design and health, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/articles/Creating%20A%20Healthy%20Environment.pdf
Note to editors:
WSU Spokane faculty and guest speakers are available as expert sources on topics listed below and others. Contact them directly, or for assistance in reaching them, contact Barb Chamberlain,
During the symposium week, for assistance in reaching speakers and WSU Spokane faculty, contact Pam Medley, pmedley@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7920.
- Design and its effects on human performance: Janetta McCoy, janettamccoy@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7508
- Urban design: Matt Cohen, cohenm@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7915) and Bob Scarfo scarfo@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7913
- Successful aging and design: Bob Scarfo, scarfo@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7913
- Historic preservation: Matt Cohen, cohenm@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7915
- New Urbanism: Bob Scarfo, scarfo@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7913; Matt Cohen, cohenm@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7915 and Matt Melcher, melcher@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7914
- Daylight and lighting design: Nancy Clark Brown, ncbrown@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7906 and Judy Theodorson, jtheodorson@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7964
- Geographic Information Systems, demographics and accessible transportation: Kerry Brooks, kerrybrooks@wsu.edu, (509) 358-7911
