Building a History: Historical Context of Central Washington University Campus Architecture

Presenter Information

Lauren Walton

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Ballroom C/D

Start Date

15-5-2014

End Date

15-5-2014

Keywords

Architectural History, Historical Analysis, Built Environment

Abstract

To date, no effort has been made to understand the historical narrative presented by the architecture of the Central Washington University (CWU) campus. Such an investigation is important because the built environment provides meaningful information about our shared past by means of its association with particular events, people, and cultural trends that represent significant historical influences on the campus. With CWU’s most recent period of campus development underway, there is potential that the existing architecture will be permanently altered or destroyed and, with it, our ability to understand the history that it represents. Therefore, this study uses cultural resource management methods and architectural historian techniques to conduct architectural and historical analyses of several buildings on the CWU campus that represent distinct eras of campus development. Architectural elements of campus buildings will be linked to the changing needs of the school, as well as to cultural events and movements that transpired locally, regionally, and nationally between the inception of the school in 1891 and the present (2014). The significance of this study is multi-layered given that the practice of identifying (and protecting) cultural resources, like the buildings on CWU campus, stems from local, national, and global community interest in heritage.

Poster Number

33

Faculty Mentor(s)

Lubinski, Patrick

Additional Mentoring Department

Resource Management

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May 15th, 11:30 AM May 15th, 2:00 PM

Building a History: Historical Context of Central Washington University Campus Architecture

SURC Ballroom C/D

To date, no effort has been made to understand the historical narrative presented by the architecture of the Central Washington University (CWU) campus. Such an investigation is important because the built environment provides meaningful information about our shared past by means of its association with particular events, people, and cultural trends that represent significant historical influences on the campus. With CWU’s most recent period of campus development underway, there is potential that the existing architecture will be permanently altered or destroyed and, with it, our ability to understand the history that it represents. Therefore, this study uses cultural resource management methods and architectural historian techniques to conduct architectural and historical analyses of several buildings on the CWU campus that represent distinct eras of campus development. Architectural elements of campus buildings will be linked to the changing needs of the school, as well as to cultural events and movements that transpired locally, regionally, and nationally between the inception of the school in 1891 and the present (2014). The significance of this study is multi-layered given that the practice of identifying (and protecting) cultural resources, like the buildings on CWU campus, stems from local, national, and global community interest in heritage.