Faculty Advisor

Andrew Gardner

Area of Study

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Publication Date

Summer 2022

Abstract

For my 2022 summer research project, I collaborated with Professor Gardner of the Sociology and Anthropology department to study, investigate, and analyze Modernist-era units of development in Washington state. Dominating the urban construction of the twentieth century, Modernist architects and planners often relied on large parcels of land for a designated, niche, purpose, yet as society both politically and socially evolved and shifted away from this type of planning, these parcels fit awkwardly into contemporary urban landscape – today, some are bordering on useless, others simply abandoned. My research focused on three Modernist-era parcels found here in Washington state: the former Satsop Nuclear Plant, the now-defunct Northern State Hospital campus, and the grounds of Expo ‘74 in downtown Spokane. Through studying these parcels’ original histories and engaging in ethnographic fieldwork and observation of their current states and uses, I sought to understand how these spaces of the past have been incorporated into the contemporary urban landscapes of our state, what factors led to the most successful retrofittings, and how these parcels have persevered in the postmodernist era.

Award

Agricola Fund Grant

Publisher

University of Puget Sound

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