Design Research Week Call for Papers, Projects, Posters:
Conference to be held at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute of 
Washington State University Spokane

Topic: Design + Livable Communities

The Interdisciplinary Design Institute holds its Third Annual Design 
Research Week October 5-7, 2006, in Spokane, Washington.  Spokane is the 
center of a region known as the Inland Empire in the US Pacific 
Northwest.  Along with Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, it boasts a population of 
500,000 and is undergoing significant urban growth, with all of the 
challenges such growth brings.  These include downtown revitalization, 
sprawl and urban growth boundaries, poverty and crime, erosion of natural 
environments, quality health care (Spokane is the medical hub of a 250 
mile radius), to name a few.  In short, Spokane is an excellent venue for 
a conference addressing livable communities.

In keeping with the mission of the Interdisciplinary Design Institute, 
papers and projects addressing this topic are welcome from a wide array of 
disciplines: the natural sciences, the social sciences, health care/public 
health,  the arts, the design disciplines, from the academic and business 
worlds, and from both public and private sectors.  All submissions will be 
peer reviewed on the basis of how they address the challenge of weaving 
livability into environmental fabrics at all scales of human habitation.

Livability refers to the positive environmental, social, and health-
related qualities of any area in which people live. Environmental quality 
refers to the present and future ecological conditions (air, water, soil, 
flora and fauna) of the defined area, as well as the area’s cultural and 
aesthetic characteristics. Social quality refers to the interpersonal 
interactions that the area encourages. Health-related qualities are those 
that affect the overall physical and emotional health of the inhabitants 
of the area, and can include the environmental and social qualities noted 
above. 

Built Fabric refers to any landscape, urban area, building, or space, 
whether indoor or outdoor, the form of which is substantially the result 
of human intervention. 

Topics can include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

	Cultural factors influencing livable environments
        Public heath/policy and built environments	
        Community livability versus globalization
	Healing landscapes and gardens
	Sprawl, New Urbanism, and downtown centers
        Community livability from history and vernacular traditions
        Collaboration and livability
        Sustainability and a less automobile-dependent future
        Livability in the age of the internet

Papers addressing the conference topic are to be a maximum of 5,000 words. 
Initial submission shall be an abstract not to exceed one page.  Deadline: 
July 17, 2006, by email (see below).

Projects can be designs (or concepts) of a built form of any scale, so 
long as an accompanying narrative explains how the project addresses the 
symposium topic.  Initial submission shall be a one page document 
providing an image of the project with a narrative explanation of 
sufficient length to fit on the same page. Deadline: July 17, 2006, by 
email (see below).

Posters are limited to a 24” x 36” two dimensional composition comprised 
of graphics and wording addressing livability. Initial submission shall be 
a JPEG image of manageable resolution to send over email. Deadline: July 
17, 2006, by email (see below).

All submissions must include contributor(s) name, affiliation, and contact 
information.  Submission shall be by email only to [log in to unmask]  All 
submissions will be blind peer reviewed.  DEADLINE for initial 
submissions: Monday, July 17, 2006.  All submissions will be responded to 
by mid August.

NOTE: Presenters’ work actually presented at the conference  will be 
further peer reviewed for inclusion in the Interdisciplinary Design and 
Research e-Publication (IDRP), sponsored by the WSU Interdisciplinary 
Design Institute: http://www.idrp.wsu.edu/