WSU students on the hunt for Airstream ‘apps’

At first, Todd Beyreuther thought he and his design students would have a nice summer project redesigning an Airstream trailer.

Eight weeks. In and out.

But the project by students of architecture and design at Washington State University has grown. The eight-week design studio, which I wrote about July 16, has wrapped up. The 1958 trailer’s exterior is shiny and bright, and a new, experimental floor design is on the way to being manufactured and installed.

The redesigned trailer will be on display this fall at the Riverpoint campus in Spokane and at the art museum at WSU’s Pullman campus. Now, the students are going out to designers, architects and others in the community, seeking ideas for expanding and detailing the project.

“It’s taken off,” said Beyreuther, a clinical assistant professor of architecture. “The students have made it much bigger with this idea of engaging other designers.”

The students designed a trailer that was centered around its floor – the contours of the floor define the different spaces within the trailer, and offer unusual opportunities for storage, furniture and other items. But the floor idea could be taken in a number of different directions – students viewed it as akin to a smart phone, with a world of possibilities for “apps.”

They’ll be asking for apps this fall.

You can check the progress so far at spokane.wsu.edu/academics/Design/ airstream.

A view from the inside

A reader – and member of the Spokane Country Club – took issue with my July 29 column about the club and an incident from 2007 that arose as part of a lawsuit against the club.

The reader, a woman who said she was a club member, argued that the club has changed its policies, opened doors for women and has the support of its female membership, except for the plaintiffs in the suit. Those plaintiffs argue that the club charges women equal membership fees as the men for unequal services.

“(M)ost women (all except the couple who have brought the lawsuit, in fact) are fine with the club and it is serving our needs,” wrote the woman, whom I agreed not to identify. “I have never experienced anything but kindness and politeness from the men.”

She said that the club has changed its weekend morning tee times from men-only times and allows all members to golf then. I reported those times were reserved for men, based on the lawsuit and a club handbook. The plaintiffs argue that some of the club’s changes are changes in name only.

I tried without success to get club representatives to talk to me at the time. So I’m glad she wrote and offered her view.

For the record

We ran regular corrections on these items, but just to reiterate:

I erred when I wrote on July 23 that people who were towed during Hoopfest, and who had not already challenged their impoundments in court, had missed a deadline to do so. Whether that deadline was legally in effect depends on whether the towing company notified the people who were towed of their rights to a hearing in court. If they were not properly notified, those people could still have a chance to challenge the impoundment.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the towing is ongoing. The Washington State Patrol is looking into the case, which was forwarded by a Spokane police officer, and the Department of Licensing will make a decision about whether it was improper and whether there will be penalties.

Also, in Friday’s column about political slogans, I made a dumb error when writing about John Driscoll and John Ahern in the race for state representative in the 6th District. Driscoll is the Democratic incumbent, and Ahern, a former state representative, is one of two Republican challengers, along with Shelly O’Quinn.