WSU EUNOIA Volume III

RECOLLECTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH COMRADERY

eunoia

eunoia

[you-noy-uh] - Greek

(n.) “Beautiful Thinking”

Washington State University eunoia publishes an annual issue

showcasing some of the work done by our School of Design +

Construction students, faculty, and staff. Beautiful thinking and

work are promoted in the magazine for educational purposes,

as well as encouraging a safe, competitive area at WSU.

Our goal is to distribute the eunoia magazines to a variety

of firms and schools to provide an opportunity to experience

projects that were created from the WSU School of Design +

Construction. We hope to inspire others to continue generating

designs that will influence the future of generations to come.

Issue 03 | May 2022

Vahid Vahdat, Faculty Advisor

wsueunoia.com

The School of Design + Construction at Washington State University continues

to morph into an ever-changing architectural norm, recalibrating from year to

year as the students remain a nonfluctuating constant. As the halls of Carpenter,

Daggy, and Dana slowly became more flourished with life throughout the year, the

experiences that were gained during the COVID-19 phase molded one another into

the way design and construction are tackled and viewed. Although the beginning

of the year continued as a virtual experience, the gentle shifts toward in-person

learning at the end of the year demonstrated the tenacity and adaptability amongst

the students, faculty, and staff at WSU, as it is reflected through the various awardwinning

projects.

Projects showcased in this issue of eunoia understand the inevitable changes of

the future and take into consideration the present-time of what can be done today

based on the surrounding events in our lives. These various projects adapt to the

areas of change in the world of design and construction based on the comparison

of experiences during the different phases of COVID-19 effects throughout the year.

WSU students, faculty, and saff continue to stand in solidarity through the strength

of comradery based on understanding one another in the workplace through a

support system. Although change is always to be expected in the near future,

effective collaboration with one another, through the power of community, creates

a greater importance in enduring the change together as a whole.

We are eager to shift into another new year with eagerness in designing for a better

tomorrow. We plan on continuing this journey of eunoia to form a collection of

work reflecting the culture within the WSU SDC community. We applaud the WSU

students, faculty, and staff for their patience and dedication this past school year.

We hope you enjoy this new issue and stay tuned for future additions.

Yours,

The eunoia team

Editor-in-Chief

Jovannie L. Laforga

Waipahu, Hawai’i

Contributing Editor

Clara K. Krause

Woodinville, Washington

Graphic Advisor

Yutaro Sakai

Fukuoka, Japan

Contributing Editor

Magnus N. Harland

Lakewood, Washington

Associate Editor

Jhoana S. Hernandez Avante

Mexico City, Mexico

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9th & Roy at SLU

ARCH - Connor Lacey, Maggie Cooper, Kyle Hoak, Kodie Denman

CM - Anthony Palandri, Max Nail, Wyatt Fueston, Devon Walters

Senior Capstone Studio | 2021 Capstone Winners

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Towards a Curriculum of Equity and Social Justice in SDC

Phil Gruen

Discrimination and Design

content

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18

22

24

26

28

30

32

36

The Ethical and Existential Meaning of Beauty

Juhani Pallasma

Architect, Professor, Writer

Soil Factory

Pim Chariyacharoen

Graduate Arch Studio

Portland’s Urban Wild & Exotic Bird Center

Alexandra Geisen


Summit Hills

Patrick Winston


HAAP

Nate Kirk

Graduate Arch Studio | 2021 AIA Citatation Award

Jackson Plaza

Jovannie Laforga, Anguel Atanassov, Denise Tlatelpa


CD’A A-Frame

Anthony Noble

Sophmore Arch Studio

ASAのHA

Cheuk Yiu Chan, Jagruti Vartak


Circadia Children’s Hospital

Malena Mendes-Ortiz, Naeem Shook, Colin Rittenhouse

Senior Arch Studio

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48

50

52

56

58

60

64

66

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The ReGrowth Housing Co-Operative

Zach Colligan

Junior Arch Studio

Circle Care Pediatric Hospital

Ruben Estrada, Camree Kunze, Ben Fleiss

Senior Arch Studio | 2022 WSU Crimson Award

Neo-Medius

Anissa Chak, Alexandra Scheele

Junior Arch Studio

Relook Overlook

Ashley Beard

Graduate Arch Studio | 2022 AIA COTE Competition

Natural Loop

Ting-Wei Shih


Developing Curricula

Omar Al-Hassawi

Faculty Research

Collective

Martin Trejo


Assemblage De(con)struction

Theo Sunny Nguyen

Sophomore ID Studio

Meridian Village

Taylor Olson, Naeem Shook

Junior Arch Studio

Micro Plant @83854

Prem Jongdeenarn, Connor Lacey, Feras Alsodais


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THE ETHICAL AND EXISTENTIAL

MEANING OF BEAUTY

JUHANI PALLASMAA

ARCHITECT, PROFESSOR EMERITUS (AALTO UNIVERSITY), WRITER

Figure 1: “If a work only expresses the person

who created it, it wasn’t worth doing [...]

Expressing the world, understanding it, that is

what seems interesting to me.””Great painting

has to have universal meaning. This is no longer

so today and that is why I want to give painting

back its lost universality and anonymity,

because the more anonymous a painting is, the

more real it is.” -Balthus (Balthazar Klossowsky

de Rola)

March 7, 2022 was about to

become a memorable day for the

students at the School of Design +

Construction. The largest crowd

in the school’s lecture series that

year were gathered online to hear

from Juhani Pallasmaa—a globally

celebrated architect, educator,

theorist, and critic who was joining

from Helsinki, Finland. However,

the connection failed. As the chair

of the school’s lecture committee, I

felt great disappointment for letting

our guest speaker, and the great

audience, down not realizing that

some technical issue cannot prevent

the dissemination of beauty. In a

generous gesture, Juhani offered

his “Ethical and Existential Meaning

of Beauty” to be published in

Eunoia. “Reading about all the

people who had connected to

hear the lecture,” Juhani wrote to

me, “I feel frustrated. [...] As an

alternative, you could publish it, as

it is a manifesto for a more inclusive

and biologically oriented thinking

about architecture.” Reading his

words, I wondered if this act of

kindness and generosity is not the

existential meaning of beauty, I

don’t know what is.

Juhani Pallasmaa is the former

dean at the Helsinki University of

Technology and former Director of

the Museum of Finnish Architecture.

His projects have been globally

recognized through awards, such

as the Arnold W. Brunner Prize

from the American Academy of Arts

and Letters, the Fritz Schumacher

Prize, the Schelling Architecture

Theory Prize, and the Finnish State

Architecture Award. Pallasmaa

was Finland’s representative at

the Venice Biennale in 1991, and

for 5 years (from 2009 to 2014)

served as a jury member for the

Pritzker prize. Pallasmaa is one of

world’s most respected architectphilosophers,

that aside from a vast

number of architectural projects

around the globe, has authored

more than 70 edited or penned

books and 950 published essays,

articles, and prefaces, translated

into 37 languages. His “eyes of

the skin” is considered a classic

polemic on spatial experience,

which continues to have a major

impact on phenomenological

discussions of architecture. In

his writings, including this text,

Pallasmaa brings together

discussions from phenomenology,

ethics, psychology, aesthetics, art,

and cinema. -Vahid Vahdat

BEAUTY, AESTHETICISATION,

AND NEWNESS

Beauty and ethics, as well as

Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical idea.

Realism is striving for the truth, and truth, and truth is

beautiful. Here aesthetic coincides with the ethical. 1

-Andrey Tarkovski

their hidden relationships, are no

doubt, unfashionable subjects in

today’s artistic and architectural

discourse. In the era that reveres

appealing images and formal

inventions, the ethical perspective

has been pushed aside and the

ethical dimension has rarely

entered recent writings on art

and architecture. The Ethical

Function of Architecture (1996),

by philosopher Karsten Harries, is

a rare example in our time of the

interest in the ethical dimension of

architecture. 3 Artistic quality is

generally seen as a subjective and

unique expression, and instead of

suggesting an ethical resonance,

it is expected to exhibit unforeseen

imagery. In fact, beauty and ethics

have been problematic concepts in

the arts for a century and a half,

and artists have usually questioned

or neglected these notions.

In our obsessive consumerist

culture, beauty has turned into a

deliberate aesthetic manipulation

and seduction; everything

from products to environments,

personality to behavior, and politics

to war, is now manipulatively

aestheticized. We have entered

the era of “aesthetic capitalism”,

in accordance with the title of a

recent book by Gernot Bohme,

the German philosopher, who has

also pioneered in the philosophical

analysis of atmospheres. 4 This

new mode of capitalism implies a

distinct calculated manipulation

of appearances and the loss

of sincerity. Besides, today’s

formalist and rhetorically

dramatized architecture hardly

aspires for beauty and serenity,

as experiences of the unforeseen,

stunning, and the unheimlich, or

of outright imbalance and threat,

are frequently more apparent in its

imagery.

During the modern era, the

requirement for beauty has

been replaced by the obsession

with newness. Paradoxically

however, even newness turns

into repetitiousness. “As the new

is searched only because of its

newness”, as the Norwegian

philosopher Lars Svendsen

(1970-) points out in his book,

The Philosophy of Boredom. 5

However, beauty is always

connected with timelessness

as it turns our consciousness to

permanence and eternity. “The

language of beauty is essentially

the language of timeless reality”,

philosopher Karsten Harries

(1937-) claims. 6 “Beauty connects

us with the eternal”, as Jorge Luis

Borges formulated this thought. 7

What is the meaning of this forceful

distancing of art and architecture

from beauty, ethics and life? In

this book, The Dehumanization

of Art and Other Essays of Art,

Culture and Literature (1925),

Jose Ortega Gasset (1883-1955)

suggests that the subject matter

of art has gradually shifted from

“things” to “sensations”, and

finally, to “ideas”. 8 In Ortega’s

view, this development has

gradually weakened the human

content in art. Regardless of

whether we agree with Ortega’s

analysis or not, it opens a

thought-provoking view into the

transformation of the essence of

art. This is a shift from concrete

“

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Figure 2: “Poetic Justice” by Martha C.

Nussbaum

and sensory representations,

to fabricated and cognitive

expression. At the same time, they

have moved towards the realms of

conceptuality and scientific views.

In this development, the role of

beauty has changed accordingly,

and it is difficult to relate sensory

representation and phenomenal

experience of beauty with the

cerebral and instrumentalized

ideas in today’s artistic expressions.

Art and architecture have turned

autonomous and self- conscious

of their means and ends. Instead

of mediating between different

realities, art has turned into

an autonomous reality. In this

development, the role of beauty

has changed accordingly, and

it is not possible to relate sensory

representation and phenomenal

experience of beauty with the

cerebral and instrumentalized

ideas in today’s artistic expressions.

Not surprisingly, these fundamental

changes in artistic thinking and

focus also apply in architecture.

THE ETHICS OF LIMITS

Sublime beauty was the highest

aspiration of art until the end of the

nineteenth century, but the quasirational

and materialistic consumer

culture of today regards art as a

cultural deviation, entertainment,

and investment. However, an

interest in the connections of ethics

and aesthetics, truth and beauty,

seems to be re-emerging again.

The haunting environmental

and ecological problems, and

the consequences of uncritical

technological development,

such as excessive digitalization,

artificial intelligence, and genetic

manipulation, are also awaking

wider ethical concerns. At the same

time, however, the attention is

shifting from the forced and noisy,

but mentally empty, architecture of

abundance to the ways of building

that are emerging in the developing

world. This architecture of necessity

is bound to be based on real needs,

scarcities, and necessities. In these

ways of building, architectural

form still arises from the materials

and ways of constructing, not

from detached aestheticized ideas

and meaningless compositional

complexities. While the existential

meaning is disappearing from

the constructions of the world

of surreal wealth, the severely

restricted constructions in the

realities of need still mediate

existential and ethical values. This

architecture of limits expresses the

beauty of necessity, as opposed to

the limitless aesthetics and swiftly

changing fashions of abundance.

Leonardo da Vinci’s wise advice

on the meaning of limits, “Strength

is born from constrains and it dies

in freedom “, has regrettably been

forgotten. 9

The perspective of approaching

ecological, political, and moral

catastrophes definitely calls for

the re-integration of the aesthetic

and ethical sensibilities. At the

same time, our focus needs to shift

from the subjective, exclusive, and

exceptional back to the universal

and existential concerns. The

Ethical Function of Architecture

(1997) of Karsten Harries, as

well as several other significant

philosophical books of the past

few years, such as Elaine Scarry’s

(1946-) On Beauty and Being

Just, 10 and Martha Nussbaum’s

(1947-) Poetic Justice, 11 also

exemplify these concerns. Joseph

Brodsky (1940-1996), The Nobel

Laureate poet, wrote frequently

about the interactions of these

two mental dimensions and gave

the aesthetic perception primacy:

“Man is first an aesthetic creature

before he is an ethical one”. 12 He

considers our aesthetic instinct as

the origin of ethics: “Every new

aesthetic reality makes man’s

ethical reality more exact, because

aesthetics is the mother of ethics”. 13

But for the poet, aesthetics

means something more universal

and autonomous than today’s

commercialized beauty, serving

the purposes of desire, convention,

consumption, and forced change.

BEAUTY IN SCIENCE

Beauty, reason, and truth are usually

seen as exclusive and independent

properties and notions, but they

can well share the same mental

and emotive grounding. Beauty

and reason seem to be equally

valid approaches and criteria

of judgment in both science and

art. Erich Fromm (1900-1980),

philosopher and social psychiatrist,

provides a striking expression of the

fusion of beauty and truth: “Beauty

is not the opposite of the ugly, but

of the false”. 14 This view points

directly at the interconnection of

the aesthetic and ethic criteria.

Aesthetic aspirations are primarily

related with the world of the

arts, architecture, design, and

styles, but beauty and elegance

of thought are essential criteria

also in mathematics, physics,

and other sciences. Beauty

represents comprehensive and

synthetic qualities and integrities,

which cannot be formalized and

expressed through any other means.

The experience of convincing and

disarming beauty is a proof of the

correctness, coherence, and inner

harmony of the phenomenon, also

outside of art. The pure and selfless

beauty of a Piero della Francesca

of Johannes Vermeer painting is

likely to be beyond analyses and

explanations, as it penetrates

every cell of the viewer, “Be like

me”, is the authoritative demand of

great poetry, according to Joseph

Brodsky, and this command

applies to all art. 15

Beauty of also a quality in

mathematics and sciences. The

theoretical physicist, Paul A.M.

Dirac (1902-84), argued that

the theories of physics, which

project beauty, are probably

also the correct ones. 16 Physicist

Hermann Weyl (1885-1955),

who completed the quantum and

probability theories, made an

even more outspoken confession:

“My work has always attempted

to combine truth with beauty,

but when I have been obliged

to choose one of the two, I have

chosen the beautiful”. 17 Today,

mathematicians use the notion

“dirty proof” (in the sense of “ugly”)

of a mathematical proof, which has

been attained through immense

computing power, beyond the

capabilities of human perception

and intellectual grasps. 18 I feel the

same “dirtiness” in architectural

projects generated by computers

or algorithms.

THE HOLISTIC ESSENCE OF

BEAUTY

Beauty is not an added surface

value on top of the essence

of things, as it expresses the

coherence, integrity, wholeness,

and completeness of the thing or

phenomenon. There is no esthetic

reality separate from the realities of

things. Our current culture prioritizes

power, cerebral capacity, and

quantification, although emotive

reactions and intuitions are

often our most synthetic modes

of understanding, and beauty

arises from the experience of a

complex entity as an integrated

singularity. The ”understanding”

of atmospheres is an example

of our capacity of grasping

unfocused, shapeless, and diffuse

phenomena. Altogether, we tend

to regard perceptions, skills, and

understanding as processes that

advance from details and parts

towards entities. This simplistic idea

of the dynamics of understanding

is regrettably also the prevailing

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Figure 3: Artistic images provided by Juhani

Pallasmaa

method in education. However,

neuroscience has established that

we grasp entities first and they give

meaning to the parts. This fact of

neuroscience shakes the accepted

elementaries pedagogical

foundations in a fundamental

manner. Students of art and

design, for instance, should first

be made to encounter real and

complete works of art, and only

later given detailed intellectual

analyses of the artistic phenomena.

The individual sensory experience

of the work has to precede its

conceptual analyses and cognitive

understanding derived from the

whole, since it is only in the light

of the whole that one can truly

“understand the nature of the

parts”, Iain McGilchrist (1953-),

therapist ad philosopher, argues. 19

Beauty is a complete judgment of

a thing in the same way that we

grasp the characteristics of places

and vast environmental situations

through our unfocused atmospheric

sense. As I enter a space, the space

enters me. “I enter a building, see

a room, and – in the fraction of a

second – have this feeling about

it”, Peter Zumthor confesses. 20

Beauty is as immaterial experiential

quality, which suggests a distinct

“thingness” – the sensuous and

mental thingness of beauty. At the

same time that beauty arises from

the integration of things, it appears

to have its independent existence.

As the light artist James Turrell

has argued, light can project a

“thingness” in our experience. 21

Beauty, like atmosphere, is a

complex experiential, multisensory,

and emotional manner,

rather than understood through

intellectual and analytic reading.

As we experience beauty, it does

not remain outside of us, but

becomes part of our very being.

Phenomena and creatures of

nature are beautiful. As products

of timeless evolution, they are

complete, integrated, and

self-sufficient entities. The time

dimension in reality is surprisingly

little understood outside of mere

historical chronology. Altogether,

we should finally acknowledge

that emotions and experiences

of beauty are a domain of

“existential intelligence”, implying

a comprehensive judgement of the

perceived phenomenon. By this

notion, I refer to the powerful notion

of Merleau-Ponty, “the flesh of the

world”. 22 Mark Johnson (1949-),

philosopher, makes the significant

remark: “There is no cognition

without emotion, even though we

are often unaware of the emotional

aspect of our thinking”. 23 In his

view, emotions are the source of

primordial meaning: “Emotions are

not second-rate cognitions; rather

they are affective patterns of our

encounter with our world, by which

we take the meaning of things at a

primordial level”. 24 Emotions unify

ethical and aesthetic qualities and

give them their lived existential

meanings. “It is only with the heart

that one can see right. What is

essential is invisible to the eye”,

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-

1944) asserts. 25

INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE

In his book, Intelligence Reframed,

psychologist Howards Gardner

(1943-) identifies ten categories

of intelligence beyond the

characteristics measured by the

standard IQ test: linguistic, logicalmathematical,

musical, bodilykinesthetic,

spatial, inter-personal

Art is not only a selective sampling of the world; art

implies transforming the world, an endless modification

towards the good. 2 -Rainer Maria Rilke

and intra-personal, naturalistic,

ethical, and spiritual intelligence. 26

Based on my personal experiences

and intuitions, I wish to add four

further categories - aesthetic,

emotional, atmospheric, and

existential – intelligences to this

already thought-provoking list of

the psychologist. It is evident that

even in the creative fields and

their education, the complexities

of human intelligence, embodied

and emotional capacities, and

the essences of the phenomena of

beauty and ethical judgement are

hardly understood, not to speak

of the complex and unconscious

nature of creative processes.

The poetic and artistic reality of a

work of art is not in the material

and physical object, but in its

internalization through individual

experience; beauty has to be

experienced and felt. “Nothing is

real until it has been experienced”,

as the poet John Keats (1795-1821)

wrote. 27 This is also the seminal

view of John Dewey’s (1859-1952)

book, Art as Experience of 1934:

“In common conception, the work

of art is often identified with the

building, book, painting, or statue

in its existence apart from human

experience. Since the actual work

of art is what the product does with

and in experience, the result is not

favorable to understanding […]

When artistic objects are separated

from both conditions of origin and

operation in experience, a wall

is built around them that renders

almost opaque with their general

significance, with which esthetic

theory deals”. 28

Art articulates and expresses the

world of lived experiences, and it

mediates the human mental essence

of these very encounters. A true

artist is not depicting an isolated

detail or aspect of the world. Every

real artistic work is a microcosm, a

complete world of its own, or in the

words of Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-

86), the film director, “a whole

world as reflected in a drop of

water”. 29 Every true work of art,

including architecture, projects an

entire world.

ART AND THE WORLD

I wish to argue firmly that art is not

merely aestheticization, as it is a

form of genuine existential thinking

about the world and our being in

that very world through embodied

and poeticized images and means

characteristic to the art form in

question. “How would the poet or

the painter express anything other

than his encounter with the world”,

Maurice Merleau-Ponty asks,

pointing out the existential focus

of art. 30 How could the architect

express anything else, we need to

ask accordingly. Significantly, like

Dewey, the philosopher does not

regard the material or performed

work itself as the objective of art.

“We come to see not the work of

art, but the world according to the

work”, he states. 31 This view turns

art into a mediating act; it tells

primarily of something else than of

itself; the meaning of art is always

behind and beyond the work

itself. This position also rejects the

common idea of art as the artist’s

“

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Figure 4: The Age of Empathy by Frans de Waal

and Puiden salattu elama and Kasvimaailman

kuninkaiden tunteista ja viestinnasta,

Gummerus, Helsinki, by Peter Wohllenberg.

self-expression. Indeed, art is a

relational medium, which tells us

about the essences of the lived

world, or perhaps more precisely,

about being a human in this world.

Balthus (Balthazar Klossowsky

de Rola, 1908-2001), one of the

finest realist painters of last century,

points out the significance of the

world as the artist’s true subject: “If

a work only expresses the person

who created it, it wasn’t worth

doing […] Expressing the world,

understanding it, that is what seems

interesting to me”. 32 In another

context, the painter articulates his

position further: “Great painting

has to have universal meaning.

This is no longer so today, and that

is why I want to give painting back

its lost universality and anonymity

because the more anonymous a

painting is, the more real it is”. 33 This

is a thought-provoking argument

against the understanding of art

as self-expression or conscious

aestheticization.

ART AND ITS PAST

Here again, the ethical perspective

enters the domain of art and

architecture. Like all art, the art of

building is simultaneously about

the lived world and the layered

histories and meanings of the

artform itself. All arts carry their

timeless traditions along their route

towards the future. Meaningful

works are always conversations

across time, and truly radical

works open up new ways of

reading and experiencing works of

art. Picasso has opened our eyes

to see the 25,000 years old cave

painting. All great artists reveal the

existential essence of art through

the layers of recorded history of

art. Aldo van Eyck refused to

give his inaugural lecture on the

suggested topic of the influence of

Giotto on Cezanne, and gave the

lecture on the influence of Cezanne

on Giotto, instead. 34

As a consequence of this multiple

perspective, architecture needs

to have a double focus: the lived

world and the mythical traditions

of constructing. The highly refined

technologies of today tend to

weaken the deep unconscious

meanings and hidden mythical

contents of building, which are

echoed in all great architectural

works. All meaningful works are

timeless and they are always

simultaneously about the past,

present, and future.

A BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The aesthetic reality has also

been extended to biological

phenomena. It has been well

known that certain selective criteria

that could be regarded as aesthetic

choices, such as symmetry and

signs of heath and strength,

are essential factors in mate

selection among animals. Certain

“aesthetic” gestures, rituals, and

deliberate constructions are also

used to attract a mate, such as the

empty silk balloon of the Balloon

Fly (Hilara sartor), the huge

staged and decorated nests of the

Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchidae) 35 ,

and the co-ordinated group

singing and dancing by male Blue

Manakins (Chiroxipia caudata) 36 .

A recent book, The Evolution of

Beauty, by Richard O. Prum

(1961-) re-introduces Charles

Darwin’s second book on

evolution entitled The Descent of

Man and Selection in Relation

to Sex published in 1871, 37 13

years after his celebrated On

the Origin of Species. 38 Darwin

published his second book after

becoming convinced that the

selective principles in his first

theory could not explain all the

variations among animal species,

including the proverbial case of

the peacock’s tail, which had

caused Darwin nightmares at

the time of writing The Origin of

Species. In the Victorian era, a

book that suggested autonomous

aesthetic choice as sexual motif,

practiced by the female sex, could

not even be discussed. However,

scientists have recently shown

through mathematical modelling

that, indeed, combining the two

theories of Darwin fully explains all

the variety among animal species,

including the peacock’s tail.

Surprisingly, an individual aesthetic

judgement is a principle of choice

also in the animal world. 39

The notion of biophilia, “the science

and ethics of life,” introduced and

articulated by the biologist Edward

O. Wilson (1929-), expands the

ethical responsibility beyond the

realm of human interaction all the

way to our duty in maintaining

biodiversity. 40 Semir Zeki, a

pioneering neurobiologist, also

connects aesthetics with biological

evolution, as he suggests the

feasibility of “a theory of aesthetics

that is biologically based“ in his

book, Inner Vision: An Exploration

of Art and the Brain. 41 With the

intuition and courage of a poet,

Joseph Brodsky supports the

scientist’s view: “The purpose

of evolution, believe it or not, is

beauty, which survives it all and

generates truth simply by being a

fusion of the mental and sensual”. 42

BEAUTY, EMPATHY, AND

INTEGRITY

We have an amazing unconscious

capacity to identify ourselves with

other living creatures and even with

objects and phenomena of our

perceptions, such as human and

spatial situations, and to project

ourselves and emotions onto them.

“Bes like me”, is the imperative

of the poem in Joseph Brodsky’s

view. 43 We even simulate the

individual characters of great

novels and momentarily share

their fates, lives, life situations,

and emotions. Experiencing a

work of art is an exchange as

the work lends us its authority

and magic and we lend the work

our emotions. Neuroscience has

associated this act of unconscious

mirroring and exchange with our

“mirror neurons”. 44

Somewhat unexpectedly, empathy

is a capacity that also animals

possess, as Frans de Waal’s

book, The Age of Empathy,

argues. 45 The recent research

on the chemical communication

and collaboration of trees and

mushrooms extends the realm of

purposeful communication far

beyond our own mental worlds. 46

The great ethical value and human

equality of art is that we are able

to experience our own emotions

mirrored by the most profound and

sensitive minds in human history.

We do not only reflect the thoughts,

feelings, and experiences of the

living, as our empathic imagination

can also bring the dead back to

life. We can sense through the

skin, muscles, and emotions of

Michelangelo, see through the

eyes of Piero Della Francesca,

hear through the ears of Johann

Sebastian Bach, and feel through

the heart of Rainer Maria Rilke.

As the master poet Rilke suggests

in the motto of my essay, art and

beauty are not only adjectives;

they constitute the very core of

humane and dignified life.

Beauty is a synthetic and

integrated character and quality of

a phenomenon, akin to the human

ethical quality of integrity. The

notion of integrity also refers to the

singularity, inner coherence, and

autonomy of a thing, behavior,

or phenomenon. In 1954, at the

age of 85, Frank Lloyd Wright

formulated the mental task of

architecture following: “What

is needed most in architecture

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today is the very thing that is most

needed in life – integrity. Just as it

is in human being, so integrity is the

deepest quality in a building […] If

we succeed, we will have done

great service to our moral nature

– the psyche – of our democratic

society […]. Stand up for integrity

in your building and you stand for

integrity not only in the life of those

who did the building and you stand

for integrity not only in the life of

those who did the buildings but

socially a reciprocal relationship in

inevitable”. 47

REFERENCES

1 Andrey Tarkovsky, Sculpting in

Time, University of Texas Press, Austin,

Tx, 1986, 113

2 Rainer Maria Rilke, “Letter to Jacob

Baron Uexkull, Paris, dated August 19,

1909. Rainer Maria Rilke, Hiljainen

taiteen sisin: kirjeitad vuosilta 1900-

1926 [The silent innermost core of art:

letters 1900 – 1926], edited by Liisa

Envald (Helsinki: TAI -teos, 1997), 41.

3 Karsten Harries, The Ethical Function

of Architecture.

4 Gernot Bohme, Critique of

Aesthetic Capitalism.

5 Lars Fr. H Svendsen, Ikavystymisen

filasofia [Philosophy of Boredom]

(Helsinki, Tammi Publishers, 2005), 75.

6 Karsten Harris, “Building and the

Terror of Time”, Perspecta 19: The Yale

Architectural Journal (Cambridge,

Massachusetts and London, England:

The MIT Press, 1982).

7 Jorge Luis Borges, The Craft of

Verse (Cambridge, Massachusetts:

Harvard University Press, 2000), 115.

8 Jose Ortega y Casset, The

Dehumanization of Art and Other

Essays on Art, Culture, and Literature

(Princeton NJ: Princeton University

Press, 1968).

9 Leonardo da Vinci, as quoted in

Igor Stravinsky, Muslikin poetiikka [The

Poetics of Music] (Helsinki: Otava

Publishing, 1968), 72.

10 Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and

Being Just (Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press), 1999.

11 Martha Nussbaum, Poetic Justice:

The literary imagination and public life

(Boston, Mass,; Beacon Press), 1995.

12 Joseph Brodsky, “An Immodest

Proposal”, On Grief and Reason

(New York: Farrar, Op.cit. 208)


Proposal”, On Grief and Reason

(New York:

14 Erich Fromm, original source

unidentified.

15 Joseph Brodsky, op. cit., 206.

16 Paul Dirac, “The Evolution of the

Physicist’s Picture of Nature”, Scientific

American, 208 no 5 (May 1963),

45-53

17 “In meinem Arbeit habe ich immer

versucht, das Wahr emit den Schonen

zu vereinen; wenn ich uber das Eine

oder das Andere entscheiden musste,

habe ich stets das Schone gewlilt”.

The quotation appears above the bust

of the Hermann Weyl in the Herman

Weyl Zimmer at the ETH in Zurich.

18 The notion was used by several

of the mathematician presenters at the

Simplicity in Arts and Mathematics;

Ideals of Practice in Mathematics &

the Arts, City University of New York,

Graduate Center, 3-5 April, 2013.

19 Iain McGilchrist, The Master and

His Emissary: The Divided Brain and

the Making of the Western World

(New Haven: Yale University Press,

2009), 142.

20 Peter Zumthor, Atmosphere-

Architectural Environments,

Surrounding Objects (Basel,

Birkhauser, 2006), 13.

21 James Turrell, The Thingness of

Light, Scott Poole, ed. (Blacksburg,

Virginia: Architecture Edition, 2000),

1 and 2.

22 Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

23 Mark Johnson, The Meaning

of the Body, Aesthetics of Human

Understanding (Chicago and London,

The University of Chicago Press,

2007), 9.

24 Ibid., 18.

25 Antoine de Saint- Exupery, The

Little Prince, Chapter 21 (Reynal &

Hitchcock (US). Gallimard (France),

1943).

26 Howard Gardner, Intelligence

Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for

the 21st Century (New York: Basic

Books, 1999), 41-41.

27 John Keats, Keats quotes, Google.

28 John Dewey, Art as Experience

29 Andrey Tarkovsky, Sculpting

in time: Reflections on the Cinema

(London: The Bodley Head, 1986),

110.

30 Maurice Merleau-Ponty quoted in

Richard Kearney “Maurice Merleau-

Ponty”, in Modern Movements in

European Philosophy (Manchester

-New York: Manchester University

Press, 1994), 82.

31 Maurice Merleau-Ponty, quoted

in Iain McGichrist, The Master and

His Emissary: The Divided Brain and

the Making of the

32 Balthus (Balthazar Klossowsky de

Rola). Claude Roy, Balthus (Boston,

New York, Toronto: Little’, Brown and

company, 1996), 18.

33 Balthus, op. cit..

34 Aldo van Eyck in private

conversation with the author in 198?.

35 For decoration in animal

constructions, see: Juhani Pallasmas,

ed, Animal Architecture (Helsinki:

Museum of Finnish Architecture,

1995).

36 Richard O. Prum, The Evolution

of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten

Theory of Mate Choise Shapes the

Animal World- and us (New York:

Anchor Books, 2018,) ill.20.

37 Charles Darwin, The Decent of

Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

(London: John Murray, 1871).

38 Charles Darwin, On the Origin of

Species (London:)

39 Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia

(, Cambridge, Mass, and London,

England: Harvard University Press),

1984.

40 Semir Zeki, Inner Vision: An

Exploration of Art and the Brain

(Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1999), 1-2.


Proposal“, On Grief and Reason:

Essays Joseph Brodsky (New York:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995), 207.

42 Joseph Brodsky, op, cit., 206.

43 Mirror-neurons were discovered

by the research group of Giacomo

Rizzolatti and Vittorio Gallese in the

University of Parma over thirty years

ago.

44 Frans de Waal, Age of Empathy:

Nature‘s Lessons for a Kinder Society

(New York: Broadway Books, 2010).

45 Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki,

December 2019. See also, Peter

Wohlleben, Puiden salattu elama:

Kasvimaailman kuninkaiden tunteista

ja viestinnasta, Gummerus, Helsinki,

2020.

46 Frank Lloyd Wright, “Integrity“, in

The Natural House, 1954, Published

in Frank Llyod Wright: Writing and

Building, selected by Edgar Kaufman

and Ben Raeburn (New York: Horixon

Press, 1960), 292-3.

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SOIL FACTORY

PIM CHARIYACHAROEN | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

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SOIL FACTORY

PIM CHARIYACHAROEN | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

In Portland, Oregon, the coexistence of forest and urban areas are a priority. A total of 92,000 acres of Portland’s greenery has

been developed in conjunction with the urban system, preserving high biodiversity. Soil Factory seeks an architectural design

that focuses on positive actions to enhance the relationship between wildlife and humans. The project site is located at the end of

the green corridor between SW Salmon and SW Taylor, comprising approximately ten blocks of the public park and downtown

plaza where human activities include recreation and civic events. The project is dedicated to enhancing the existing biodiversity

of the area through a symbiotic relationship between humans and the Oregon Giant Earthworm. The plight of the Oregon Giant

Earthworm is consistent with the increase in soil contamination due to today’s excessive herbicide use. The Soil Factory aims to

convert the surrounding human paper waste into organic soil to maintain and restore both the green corridor and earthworm

habitat. The Soil Factory creates a hyper symbiotic relationship through the specific functional integration of the earthworm in

architecture. The idea of recycling using earthworm habitat is considered as a building experiential process, whereby human and

soil education are integrated through building circulation.

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21

Programmatically, 60% of Portland’s

Urban Wild & Exotic Bird Center is for

native birds, 30% for exotic birds, and

10% for humans. The building was

merged into the existing slope, onsite

irrigation was created, and ADA

accessible circulation was implemented.

Entrances are at both the north and

south habitat spaces, the rooms have

controlled temperature, and educational

balconies are installed for interactions.

Diffused daylighting illuminates the

Portland’s Urban Wild & Exotic Bird

Center with a sliver between the forested

and grassland sides. The butterfly roof

was designed to catch and collect

rainwater for a connection to the interior.

It allows a controlled system to simulate

a tropical rainfall for the exotic birds and

vegetation as the water overflowed into

an on-site pond/birdbath. The designs

contrast between building and site

creates an educational understanding of

birds while providing shelter and habitat

for Portland’s native and exotic species.

PORTLAND’S URBAN WILD &

EXOTIC BIRD CENTER

Reconnecting with wildlife, specifically wild birds, is an important relationship between

us individuals to have. However, the more we dive into this inclusion of wildlife, the

more questions start to arise. What do the birds and people of Portland, Oregon need

and have in common? Why and how can this relationship be improved? Through

Portland’s Urban Wild and Exotic Bird Center, a harmonious connection between the

two demographics can form. This project facilitates an understanding of both native

and exotic birds by providing them a habitat, food, and shelter to flourish in.

ALEXANDRA GEISEN

GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

The project site is located in Portland,

Oregon at the northern end of

Shemanski Park downtown. This creates

a perfect position to encourage rewilding,

protection, and proper habitat

conservation in the middle of downtown

Portland. It also provides an opportunity

to educate people on the importance of

wild and exotic birds. With one in every

six citizens participating in bird watching

in one way or another, this project seeks

to reintroduce bird ecology into the

urban environment.


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SUMMIT HILLS

PATRICK WINSTON | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Summit Hills explores the role of architecture in improving the mental health and wellbeing

of the community in Spokane, Washington. This large-scale urban mixeduse

building is approximately 643,534 ft 2 and provides many unique services to

the community. The overall scope consists of multi-generational housing, a wellness

center, and a center for ecology and arts. This project involved adaptive architecture

techniques to assist in creating large social gathering spaces for comfort, health,

and flexibility. The site incorporates many positive features such as an existing trail,

topographic context, and available scenery. Therefore, the goal of the design for

Summit Hills is to increase community interaction through healthy and flexible green

environments.

Studio led by Mona Ghandi

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The aeroponic farm towers provide

pollen as a food source while also

producing food for the urban population.

The HAAP is, therefore, able to act

as a hub from which pollinators can

venture out to benefit green spaces

and increase ecological biodiversity

through pollination. Programmatically,

the HAAP also integrates a market,

café, and education center focused

on nutrition and dietary education, as

well as the critical role of pollinators

in food production. The structure of

the building is meant to optimize farm

space while remaining minimal and

open to allow flying pollinators to pass

through the rows of plantings while the

Operable ETFE facade can be closed

during inclement weather. The dense,

750,000 ft 3 aeroponic farm generates

as much fresh produce as nearly 500

acres of traditional farm land while

reducing water consumption by 97%.

The HAAP’s urban farm and restorative

habitat will protect and encourage

pollinator populations and has the ability

to become a model for alternatives to

mono-cultures.

HAAP

NATE KIRK


The Hub for Agriculture and Anthropology of Portland, HAAP, is designed as an

urban farm and restorative habitat for pollinator species. Large-scale mono-culture

agriculture is one of the main threats to pollinator species, destroying large areas of

habitat with low-nutrition and low-pollen mega crops, such as wheat, soy, and corn.

The HAAP won a Citation Award for its efforts in the 2021 AIA Northwest and

Pacific Region Student Design Awards.

The HAAP is envisioned as an alternative

to mono-culture agriculture by providing

compact, high-yield farming in an urban

context, serving as a prototype and

precedent that could be replicated in any

large city. The project site is located in

the urban core of Portland, Oregon. The

design of the site is tailored specifically

to the needs and requirements of native

pollinator species, while much of the

architectural program is designed to

be below grade, maximizing native

habitation and vegetation for the

pollinators.


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JACKSON PLAZA

JOVANNIE LAFORGA, ANGUEL ATANASSOV, DENISE TLATELPA | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

Affordable housing has been an on-going concern that has developed architecturally

to encourage interactions amongst a growing community through a multitude of

amenities and shared spaces. Within the Central District area of southern Seattle,

Washington, people have experienced different phases of resiliency that have

affected their way of living within the past few decades until this day.

The project site is located at the corner of 23rd Ave S and S Jackson St, in Seattle,

Washington. Three design goals that inspired the architectural design included (1)

showcasing the presence of ‘people’, (2) performance of the form identifying main

access points, and (3) supporting residents’ personal, emotional and physical growth

and wellness. The design ideas assist in enhancing community life through the use of

a mass timber super structure and panelized unit construction.

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CD’A A-FRAME

ANTHONY NOBLE

SOPHOMORE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

The CD’A A-Frame is a bold, but humble take on practical

simplicity in structure. This is a traditional A-Frame

design, however, the scale has been nearly tripled,

and the materials take a bold turn in color expression.

The insulated CLT and glue-laminated structure promise

modular construction and long-lasting benefits to the

occupant. The project site is located on a rocky plot on

the cliffs of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, positioned facing

southwest, allowing uninterrupted views across the lake.

The open-floor plan cabin is suitable as a getaway for

two, with space for guests with access to the lakeshore

below. Natural wood decking on the floors and ceilings

highlight the sandwiched materials between the first and

second levels. The eggshell-white walls accentuate the

volume of space while remaining within the lighter end

of earth-tone. The raw and jagged volcanic rock used in

the fireplace is local to the Pacific North-West and further

fortifies the black juxtaposition.

Not only can the scent of fire be enjoyed on the upper

level, but the crackle and glow, too. Large ceiling fans

stir the summer air, keeping hot air low and the occupants

comfortable. The lean-to beams provide support and

accentuate the structure’s verticality, imitating the trees of

the forest and the build quality of a finely crafted ship.

Studio led by David Drake

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ASAのHA

CHEUK YIU CHAN & JAGRUTI VARTAK | GRADUATE ARCH PRACTICUUM | SUMMER 2021


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ASAのHA

CHEUK YIU CHAN & JAGRUTI VARTAK | GRADUATE ARCH PRACTICUUM | SUMMER 2021

ASAのHA is designed to meet the demand of affordable housing for elderlies and lowincome

individuals or families by transforming the site into a low-income residential

zone. In addition, enhance ecological and social resilience through material and

programmatic choices. Locally sourced CLT is the primary structural material as its

connection to the regional timber industry makes it a viable sustainable option. The

design of commercial spaces implement concepts adopted from traditional Japanese

streets, which are characterized by tightly woven and human-scaled passageways

and storefronts.

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35

CIRCADIA

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

MALENA MENDEZ-ORTIZ, NAEEM SHOOK & COLIN RITTENHOUSE | SENIOR ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

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37

Stress control/management is

approached by including proper

lighting, noise control, and comforting

surroundings among others. To control/

mitigate infection, the use of technology

was implemented to allow for an easier

approach to social distancing, provide

opportunities for adaptability, and create

distinct separation in shared spaces, as

well as the use of antimicrobial materials.

Circadia Children’s Hospital pushes for

ease in hospital visits, green design,

and control of infectious diseases. It is

applicable in today’s issues and can be

implemented in future healthcare design.

CIRCADIA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

MALENA MENDEZ-ORTIZ | NAEEM SHOOK | COLIN RITTENHOUSE

SENIOR ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

Circadia Children’s Hospital design is

driven by three design objectives, which

consisted of (1) the implementation of

biophilic design, (2) stress control/

management, and (3) infection control/

mitigation. To implement biophilic design,

access to nature (strategically placing

plants, natural light, easy access to the

outdoors, and the use of nature driven

themes/interiors) were implemented

while ensuring that it is included in the

healing process, as well as creating

spaces for mindful interactions to happen.


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9TH & ROY AT SLU

ARCH - CONNOR WINFIELD LACEY | MAGGIE COOPER | KYLE HOAK | KODIE DENMAN

CM - ANTHONY PALANDRI | MAX NAIL | WYATT FUESTON | DEVON WALTERS

SENIOR CAPSTONE STUDIO WINNERS | SPRING 2021

In collaboration with both senior architecture and construction management students, 9th & Roy at SLU won

first place in the Washington State University School of Design + Construction Capstone Competition. Pedro

Castro, Principal NCARB Magellan Architects, was the mentor for the team. The project was judged by industry

professionals, such as Vulcan Real Estate Project Managers, Design Principles from ZGF, Perkins & Will, and BCJ

architects. The program includes an art gallery on levels 1 and 2, with a corner coffee shop to engage the existing

South Lake Union Neighborhood. Levels 3-7 contain offices, classrooms, dry labs, and wet labs for CERID. The

rooftop is accessible with a bar and outdoor spaces for the occupants of the building. The space was designed

to inspire collaboration and discovery while the construction management team developed a schedule and cost

estimates. During the design process, it was important stay within reasonable costs and constructability, which

was done effectively through communication and collaboration amongst the team members.

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41

TOWARDS A CURRICULUM OF

EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SDC

PHIL GRUEN

DISCRIMINATION AND DESIGN | FALL 2020-21

Figure 1: A trip to the SPLATT

Table sparked discussion about

how furniture design affects people

pyschologically.

Is the School of Design and

Construction moving towards a

pedagogical model where equity

and social justice are central to its

teaching mission? Can the SDC

move in this direction? Should the

SDC move in this direction? The

events of 2020—the pandemic, of

course, but especially the murders

of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor,

and George Floyd—marked a

watershed moment in American

history. They also appear to be

marking a turning point in design

education, as several institutions

nationwide are highlighting the

importance of equity and social

justice to their design programs.

Will the SDC be part of this shift, or

even at its vanguard?

At some point in the spring of 2020,

I was asked to teach Arch/I_D

530: “Philosophies and Theories

of the Built Environment” in the fall.

It was a course I had never had the

opportunity to teach in seventeen

years at WSU. But what, exactly,

to teach? The university catalog

description offered little guidance:

“Focus on systematic thought,”

it states, “which may describe

behavior of the built environment.”

Given what was happening in

2020, I wondered whether to

focus, instead, on systemic thought

which may describe behavior of

the built environment.

As the course was listed as

“Philosophies and Theories of the

Built Environment,” however, my

inclination was to turn to the classic,

western model, which is how I was

trained. This would mean a course

examining the foundational texts

that established the architectural

canon. Thus, we needed to start

with Vitruvius’s Ten Books on

Architecture and then move to

Alberti’s The Art of Building in

Ten Books—his reinterpretation of

Vitruvius, updated to cohere with

circumstances of the Renaissance.

These would be followed by the

usual litany of western European

architectural treatises whose

words and drawings painstakingly

offered variations on a theme of

antiquity: Serlio, Filarete, Vignola,

Palladio, Perrault, Blondel, Ledoux,

Viollet-le-Duc, Campbell, Morris,

Schinkel, and Semper—enough

to set the theoretical stage for the

longevity of the “ancients” through

much of the nineteenth century and

the enduring legacy of the École

des Beaux-Arts into the twentieth

century. There might be a slight

detour to the eighteenth-century

“quarrel between the ancients

The tumultuous events of 2020 inspired a reckoning

about equity, social justice, and systemic racism,

particularly in the United States.

and the moderns” to locate the

theoretical roots for the splintering

of architectural discourse during

the modern period. I took an

elective course like this during my

master’s degree in architectural

and art history, but it was required

for students in the professional

architectural degree program. I

assumed that if one was to teach

a course on the philosophies and

theories of the built environment in

a professional program, it must be

modeled in such a way.

The events of 2020 changed

everything. As protests erupted

around the globe against the

systemic racist and colonial

underpinnings to so many policies

and practices in the contemporary

world, I knew that teaching a

design theory course not only

rooted in the western tradition—

but also focused upon the ideas

and individuals who promoted

that very tradition—would merely

perpetuate the school’s complicity

in upholding a dominant narrative

that privileges the hegemony

of colonialism, patriarchy, and

power. Such a course also would

fail to dismantle a top-down,

hierarchical pedagogy that for

too long has dominated design

education and practice: not only

in looking more critically at what

we study and teach, but how we

choose to study and teach it.

In the summer of 2020, I turned

instead to the teaching of

philosophies and theories in a

decolonized fashion, examining

issues of racism, sexism, classism,

and ableism with respect to

design—past and present. I knew

this was going to be something of a

challenge. Was it not enough that

students were trying to complete

their graduate degrees during a

pandemic, necessitating course

delivery regarding difficult and

sensitive topics either on Zoom or

in person, masked or otherwise?

So long as health and safety could

be maintained, I nonetheless felt it

imperative to discuss these issues

and this material, no matter the

logistics. If students had not been

exposed to this material before

they graduated and entered

professional practice, it might be

too late. The concerns were too

important.

So, beginning in the fall of 2020,

I substituted “Philosophies and

Theories in the Built Environment”

with “Discrimination and Design”:

an active-learning, flippedclassroom

graduate seminar

focused on spatial and social

inequities. Each class was

organized around six principal

themes divided into two-week

segments (or “fortnights”). In the

fall of 2020, those themes included

Black Lives Matter, gender and

sexuality, the pandemic, borders,

climate, and monuments (the latter

of which concentrated upon the

removal of monuments celebrating

individuals associated with the

confederacy and colonialism). In

the fall of 2021, topics regarding

gentrification and accessibility for

people with disabilities replaced

borders and the pandemic for

the purposes of introducing new

“

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Figure 2: A hands-on activity

utilizing limited craft materials

to design a memorial based on a

prompt.

material (not to suggest that the

pandemic or border issues had

necessarily come under control).

Questions of equity and justice (and

inequity and injustice) nonetheless

remained interwoven throughout.

Students were asked to engage

with these issues and, through

assigned material, to recognize the

complicity of the built environment

in furthering discriminatory policies

and practices. Students were also

encouraged to consider alternative

ways of reading otherwise difficult

issues. The course promoted

an open dialogue where all

perspectives were welcome.

The decolonization process was

not only manifest in the course

content, but also the course

structure. As a flipped classroom,

students were asked to respond to

online prompts regarding assigned

readings and videos prior to

arriving in class each week rather

than having the instructor present

that material in class with students

responding after-the-fact. At least

six times during the semester,

different groups of student leaders

were asked to select the assigned

material for the rest of the class,

as well as choosing the prompt

to which the rest of the class was

encouraged to respond. In this

way, students arrived to class

better prepared to discuss the

material; indeed, their course

grade hinged upon their ability to

engage with the course content,

and their fellow colleagues, both

online and in person.

And yet the very notion of grading

itself perpetuated a western system

of hierarchy and power (something

our flipped system implicitly, and

explicitly, questioned). Although

students did receive feedback

on their progress, there were no

formal midterm or end-of-the-year

assignments that students were

required to complete. Issues of

discrimination and design (at this

stage, anyway) seem not to have

definitive right or wrong answers.

To move in that direction would

seem anathema to the very system

we were attempting to dismantle.

A structural decolonization of

pedagogy continued in the

physical classroom space. Rather

than the typical method of the

“sage on the stage,” where a single

faculty member stands at the head

of the room and the students are

seated in rows, passively facing

the teacher, small groups of four

or five students were asked to lead

discussion or activities every week

and all students were regularly

encouraged to participate. Only

occasionally did student group

leaders choose to stand in front of

the room and present the material

to the rest of the class. Much of

the time, they instead encouraged

their fellow students—and the

instructor—to move around the

room to better facilitate discussion

and engagement. It helped that the

setting was in a “SPARK: Academic

Innovation Hub” classroom with its

predominantly mobile furniture,

though without tremendous effort

alternative configurations could

be created in several classrooms

at WSU. Indeed, some of the more

engaging class-time discussions

were inspired by miniature field

trips that student leaders themselves

orchestrated for the rest of the class.

On the whole, student comments,

discussions, and activities

demonstrated a willingness to

tackle challenging topics and

a recognition of bias, cultural

appropriation, racism, and

patriarchy in design. There was

broad acceptance of designers’

complicity in sustaining systemic

injustice through practice; an

acknowledgement of the role of

design education in upholding

western modes of thought; and a

general understanding that social,

cultural, and economic inequalities

are both produced and reproduced

by the professions.1 In general,

the class participated in what

Rashida Ng, former president of

the Associated Collegiate Schools

of Architecture (ACSA) implored

architectural educators to consider

in 2019; that is, to ask of educators

what they ask of students: “to be

challenged, to take risks, to adapt,

and to navigate the uncertainty

and excitement that change

undoubtedly brings.” 2

That forty-nine (49) total graduate

students have taken this newly

reformatted Arch/I_D 530 course

over a two-year period should

not be interpreted to suggest that

issues of equity and justice are

yet integral to the curricula in the

School of Design and Construction

at Washington State University;

indeed no single course is likely to

have that kind of an impact in any

program. Nor can one claim that

the topics addressed resonated

with all students, particularly those

students already resolute in their

beliefs about the capability of

design in shaping culture or those

otherwise uninterested in designing

and building for marginalized

people or communities.

Moreover, introducing equity and

justice in design at the graduate

level may be too late: if it is not

considered in foundational classes,

students may interpret such issues

as less vital to their education.

Indeed, the idea that a single

course on equity and social justice

in the built environment is needed

at all might be suggestive that such

issues are not covered elsewhere in

the curriculum. As Rahul Mehrotra,

chair of the Department of Urban

Planning and Design at Harvard

University contends, it is “a matter

of emphasizing core issues like

race and ethnicity, economic

justice, climate change, and public

health and embedding them in

every course.” 3 Will the SDC

answer the call?

Discrimination and Design

represents merely one approach

for embedding a commitment to

equity and justice solidly within

a design program. Yet it is hardly

the only way. In fact, several SDC

courses, research projects, guest

lectures, activities, initiatives, and

competitions over the years have

focused upon projects or issues

regarding underrepresented

communities or injustice in the built

environment. One might hope that

a single course would not need to

be offered in order for the SDC

to demonstrate its commitment,

though in the short term—as the

school also prepares a statement on

equity, justice, and belonging for its

website; introduces a new faculty

member hired under the “social

justice in the built environment”

mantra; and begins to offer an

additional “social justice”-related

elective as a fourth-year, upperdivision

course—the Discrimination

and Design course will ensure that

SDC graduate students will be

exposed to such issues in a fairly

intensified way. In the fall of 2020

and 2021, the students themselves

ensured that this would be so.

REFERENCES

1 This awareness can be evinced by

course evaluations, student comments

on the online course discussion board,

and instructor recollection of weekly, inperson

class discussions.

2 Rashida Ng, “What Will It Take?

Reflections on Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion in Architectural Education,”

Journal of Architectural Education 73,

no. 2 (October 2019).

3 Alice Bucknell, “Architecture, Design,

Action: Rahul Mehrotra on Dismantling

Systemic Racism in Pedagogy and

Practice,” Harvard University Graduate

School of Design News, Aug. 12, 2020.

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The project site is located in the small

town of Albion, Idaho. It sought to

answer this question as the design works

to reintroduce a diversity of activity,

biology, and society. Following a 10-to-

15-year lifespan, after the demographic

shift has slowed, majority of the structures

would be disassembled and removed

from the site, leaving a rejuvenated

landscape that would serve a wildlife

sanctuary and public park for passersby.

THE REGROWTH HOUSING

CO-OPERATIVE

ZACH COLLIGAN

JUNIOR ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

The Re-Growth Housing Co-operative

was a unique solution because it

possessed a life cycle from its conception.

Can sustainable living breathe new life

into a desolate landscape?


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CIRCLE CARE PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL

RUBEN ESTRADA, CAMREE KUNZE & BEN FLEISS | SENIOR ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

Circle Care Pediatric Hospital won the Crimson Award in the Arts and Design category at the 2022 WSU Showcase for

Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA). The project site is located at the heart of the Emanuel Medical

Legacy Campus in Portland, Oregon and provides care to the greater overall area with its emergency department, NNIC, PICU,

and four additional patient unit floors. Three primary issues were researched to address within a pediatric hospital design. First,

a common problem found in many hospitals are the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder seen in medical staff, patients,

and their accompanying family members. In fact, 15-40% of visitors report feelings of PTSD following hospitalization. Second, a

factor for PTSD was discovered in building occupants that directly correlates to nature deficiency disorder, or a lack of connection

to the outdoor environment, with patients reporting stress by an increase of 25% when they are not interacting with nature in

some way. Lastly, hospitals must redesign their layout entirely every forty years. It is common for hospitals to face situational

vulnerability in their inability to sustain an influx of high patient saturation in adjustment to unforeseen circumstances. Circle Care

Pediatric Hospital strives to lessen the burden of said issues and provides a more calming and sustainable experience. In an

evidence-based design approach, the design strives to meet the issues described above with three proposed design solutions–

those being the minimization of PTSD, use of biophilic design, and convertibility. Within the hospital, visitors will find a large

range of escape zones and green spaces welcome for all ages to take a moment to play, relax, and breathe amidst the high

stress environment that they are in. Regarding biophilic design, the building itself is oriented to maximize southern daylight and

northeastern views of the surrounding nature elements to enhance healing and regulation of circadian rhythm. Finally, to achieve

the goal of convertibility, the use of empty shell levels in anticipation of the building’s future expanse by incorporation of large

interstitial space and interchangeable patient rooms. Circle Care Pediatric Hospital engages pediatric patients, parents, and staff

alike through implementing design strategies focused on minimization of PTSD, embracing core values of biophilic design, and

providing building and space convertibility.


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NEO-MEDIUS

ANISSA CHAK & ALEXANDRA SCHEELE | JUNIOR ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Neo-Medius aims to create a vibrant community among residents neighboring Meridian Park. The project site is located in the

Wallingford area of Seattle, Washington. Increasing the density from the previous four family housing units on the site allows for a

more diverse group of residents that can enliven a strong sense of community. Designing for health and connection was a priority

to provide occupants with healthy living conditions and a balance between a supportive engaged community and privacy.

Five-unit types were implemented to allow for a more diverse range of residents: accessible first floor, studio, and two-to-fourbedroom

units. Large operable windows and balconies are included with every style of unit to provide light, air, and personal

outdoor space. Walking and biking is encouraged with easy storage and pathways, as well as a bike shop on the corner of

the property. The expansive intersection between the buildings serve as a versatile space for residential activities and events

to enable opportunities and shared experiences. The projects circulation is also key for interaction with Meridian Park, which

allows for healthier lifestyles of residents and a feeling of connection with the neighborhood. Overall, Neo-Medius enhances

the Wallingford neighborhood by creating a home for more members of the community to live in and connect with each other.

Studio led by Taiji Miyasaka

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RELOOK OVERLOOK

ASHLEY BEARD | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

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Relook Overlook’s main building

component is the water treatment system.

This system supports the secondary

components, which include food and

nutrition, the creation of job opportunities,

and a recreation center. Included within

these components are culinary classes,

a native fish hatchery, community

gardens and kitchens, food research and

assistance center, local organic market,

aquaponic and hydroponic farming,

farm-to-table restaurant, job assistance

center, bike shop, community swimming

pool and gym, parks and green spaces,

and yoga and meditation rooms.

RELOOK OVERLOOK

ASHLEY BEARD


Relook Overlook is a mixed-use building that aims to create a sustainable relationship

between the Earth and our built environment. The project site is located on a summit

oxbow in Spokane, Washington that overlooks the Spokane River, parks, trails, and

other natural features. The climate zone in Spokane is USDA Hardiness Zones 6a

and 6b, which helped determine the native plants incorporated in the design and the

amount of stormwater that can be collected on the site each year. Relook Overlook

was a part of the top ten in the 2022 AIA COTE Competition for Students.

The gross building square footage is

approximately 350,000 ft 2 filled with

program functions that are related to

working, eating, and moving. These

three functions incorporate water as

the main driving factor in the design.

As stormwater is collected, treated,

and distributed on site, there are many

programmatic opportunities to create

a closed loop system that supports the

community and encourages involvement

while creating a more sustainable future.


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NATURAL LOOP

TING-WEI SHIH | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

According to the studies of Spokane, Washington’s existing social problems, and a

primary search on the relationship between human psychological factors with social

behavior, a mental health care center concentrating on children and juveniles is in

need. Thomas et al. (2017) stated that the deviation behavior among teenagers is a

serious social problem; besides, this misbehavior potentially influences their future

behavior approach. To devote to better living conditions for citizens in Spokane, it is

critical to help those K-12 students reform their mental status.

The mix-used building includes the community center, education center, and pet

apartment. These three programs are formed as a loop to form a healthy personality

for children and teenagers. When a visitor walks in the loop, the natural elements are

filled into the building loop.


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DEVELOPING CURRICULA

FOR COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION

OF HIGH-PERFORMING ENERGY-EFFICIENT

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN WASHINGTON STATE

OMAR AL-HASSAWI, DON BENDER, JULIA DAY, DAVID DRAKE,

SUZANNE HAMADA, JONATHAN JONES, MAX KIRK, ABIGAIL KIRSTEN,

MIKE LUBLINER, DUSTIN MCLARTY, TAIJI MIYASAKA, MICHAEL MURPHRY,

JEFFERY NAMBA, MAGNUS NEIL, CAROLYN ROOS, GARCIA SANTANA,

RYAN SMITH, JUDY THEODORSON

FACULTY RESEARCH | FALL 2021

In

October 2021, the School of

Design + Construction was

awarded $750,000 by the

Department of Energy to develop

Curricula for Comprehensive Design and

Construction of High-Performing Energy-

Efficient Residential Buildings with focus

on the state of Washington.

No comprehensive emphasis in this

area is currently offered by colleges and

universities in the state. The VCEA’s shared

structures have not been leveraged for

interdisciplinary programs and effective

collaboration with the nationallyrecognized

WSU Extension Energy

Program has not been implemented.

Specialized courses are scattered across

different departments and schools and

typically taught at the graduate level.

Rising energy prices and energyinefficient

building stock adversely

affect households in Washington

State and nationally. Nearly one in

three Washington households are cost

burdened, spending more than 30% of

their income on housing (Phillips, 2020). 1

In Washington State, more than half of

residential buildings were built before

1980 (NEEA, 2019) 2 and residential

buildings consume 23% of all energy

(U.S. EIA, 2019; Bonlender, 2018). 3, 4

Washington has one of the most stringent

residential energy codes (WSEC-R)

nationally and is one of the most

progressive states in its commitment to

reducing greenhouse gas emissions from

buildings through its Climate Commitment

Act. However, for there to be effective

implementation by a trained workforce,

it must be coupled with accessible

education focused on energy-efficient

building design, engineering, and

construction.

For these reasons, the School of Design

+ Construction is leading an effort with

the School of Mechanical and Material

Engineering, the Department of Civil &

Environmental Engineering, and the WSU

Extension Energy Program to develop

learning modules packaged into courses

that will be grouped into three programs:

an online undergraduate certificate, an

online graduate certificate, and a hybrid

professional master’s degree.

The certificates address four competency

gaps (Energy Modeling + Simulation,

Environmental Control Systems, Envelope

Assemblies + Structural Systems, and

Building Codes, Standards, and Rating

Systems), whereas the professional

master’s addresses six gaps with the

addition of Smart Building Systems and

measured performance data.

These interdisciplinary programs are

predominantly delivered online, making

them more accessible, packaged into

short-term programs allowing for early

market entry with advanced training,

and help advance WSU’s Land Grant

Mission. The planned launch dates for

the certificates is Spring 2023 followed

by the master’s degree in Fall 2024.

REFERENCES

1 Phillips, R. (2020). To dream the

impossible dream. WSU Insider |

Washington State University. https://

news.wsu.edu/2020/07/21/dreamimpossible-dream/

2 Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

(2019). RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

STOCK ASSESSMENT II Single-Family

Homes Report. https://neea.org/img/

uploads/Residential-Building-Stock-

Assessment-II-Single-Family-Homes-

Report-2016-2017.pdf

3 U.S. Energy Information Administration.

(2019). How much energy is consumed

in U.S. residential and commercial

buildings? Frequently Asked Questions.

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.

php?id=86

4 Bonlender, B. (2018). 2019 Biennial

Energy Report: Issues, Analysis, and

Updates. www.commerce.wa.gov/

energy

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COLLECTIVE

MARTIN TREJO | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Studio led by Professor Name

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COLLECTIVE

MARTIN TREJO | GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Comprised of an educational center,

community center with leasable office

space, and 70 residential units, the

Collective Project fosters positive social

interaction and energizes East Central

Spokane through four main principles:

(1) investing a large portion of the site

for active green space, (2) implementing

spatial variety for user experience

throughout building circulation, (3)

incorporating restorative program such

as volunteer, non-profit, and mental

health education into the space, and

(4) inspiring unscripted engagement

for families through community nodes

distributed throughout the site.

The Collective Project focuses on the relationship between social interaction and mental health while exploring design as a tool

for positive social interaction. Research has identified that social pleasure and social motivation decrease in humans starting from

early adolescence until the ages of 40-50 years old. This low social motivation could lead to lower social support, resulting

in poor mental health. This is especially true for adolescents in East Central Spokane, Washington. In fact, there are multiple

different factors that determine mental health status of adolescents, such as the quality of home life, relationships with peers, and

socio-economic problems. As a result, the risk of mental illness can be greater depending on adolescents’ living conditions,

discrimination, and/or lack of access to quality support or services.

By serving underfunded and underrepresented communities in the Spokane area,

the Collective Project strives to address the factors that threaten the mental health of

adolescents, and thus, tackle the issue of poor mental health among adolescents and

the general community.


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Since human potential is limited, beautiful

things exist only in their subconscious

and dreams. These interior spaces are

a combination of experiences between

their dreams and reality. In other words,

humans will have the ability to transfer

everyone’s imaginations into reality

through interior spaces some time in the

future.

ASSEMBLAGE

DE(CON)STRUCTION

THAO SUNNY NGUYEN

SOPHOMORE ID STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Assemblage De(con)struction involved

the process of dismantling, realigning,

and reassembling disparate architectural

elements to form new ways of thinking

about interior spaces. The human

imagination is unlimited, as well as their

ability that far exceeds anything in this

world.

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MERIDIAN VILLAGE

TAYLOR OLSON | NAEEM SHOOK

JUNIOR ARCH STUDIO | SPRING 2021

Permaculture is defined as “the harmonious integration

of the landscape with people providing their food,

energy, shelter, and other material and non-material

needs in a sustainable way.” Using the framework

for permaculture gardens, Meridian Village creates

a home that exists symbiotically with its environment.

The conscious relationship between the residents, the

gardens, and the greenhouses - which have the diversity,

stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems - builds a

healthy community. Meridian Village strives to create

housing that goes beyond typical green design and

create housing that is regenerative to the environment

and its residents. The aim is to integrate the environment

and people in a way that is innovative and inclusive.

Studio led by Taiji Miyasaka

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MICRO PLANT@83854

PREM JONGDEENARN | CONNOR WINFIELD LACEY | FERAS MOHAMED ALSODAIS

GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

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MICRO PLANT@83854

PREM JONGDEENARN | CONNOR WINFIELD LACEY | FERAS MOHAMED ALSODAIS

GRADUATE ARCH STUDIO | FALL 2021

Micro Plant@83854 is a renovation

project locaed in Post Falls, Idaho, which

remained an existing structure of a nonoperating

mill factory. According to the

client, 250 housing units were required

on the site, plus activities supporting

visitors and communities at the same time.

The decision was made to preserve the

beautiful existing truss structure and

renovate huge spaces. This will serve the

energy production factory by taking farm

waste and biomass from the farmland

around Idaho and bring all biomasses

into gasification, generation, and air

purification process in the micro plant,

the 250 housing units, and the market

street supporting local farming business

in Idaho.

Lastly, total energy usage in city of Post

Falls is 471,200 MWh/Yr. However,

Micro Plant@83854 is able to produce

200,000 MWh/Yr, which calculated

approximately 33% of energy saving.

Studio led by Omar Dhia Al-Hassawi

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v o l u m e III

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