Architecture, Design Institute To Open

The opening of a new architecture and design institute at the Riverpoint Higher Education Park will be celebrated in three days of public activities this week.

A formal dedication is planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday with introductions by local officials and a multimedia presentation on Spokane’s former railroad landscape by University of Idaho history Professor Carlos Schwantes.

Activities will conclude Friday at 6 p.m. with a speech by author James Howard Kuntsler, who has written nine books, including “The Geography of Nowhere.” He will talk about the effect of suburban development on the nation’s landscape.

The events are being held in the first classroom building at the new higher education park on East Trent Avenue.

Washington State University is combining programs in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and construction management as the new WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute.

The design institute occupies roughly half of the building while Eastern Washington University’s College of Business and Public Administration has the other half.

Classes in the new building started last month. , DataTimes