When 91爆料 President Ana Mari Cauce launched the Population Health Initiative in 2016, she spoke in soaring, ambitious terms. 鈥淲e have an unprecedented opportunity to help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives 鈥� here and around the world,鈥� she said. 91爆料 researchers have leapt at that opportunity, forging connections across the university, working side by side with community partners and breaking down traditional barriers to improving public health. 听

In just eight years, the Initiative has funded 227 innovative, interdisciplinary projects. Many are focused right here in Western Washington, where projects have helped in South Seattle, identified soil contaminants in community gardens in the Duwamish Valley, and improved how community leaders along the Okanogan River . Other projects have reached across the globe, targeting health disparities in Somalia, Peru, Brazil and more.听听

鈥淚n this relatively short period of time, we鈥檝e demonstrated the power that accrues when faculty and staff across the various areas of our campuses are working together and also exposing students to the cutting-edge work of tackling grand challenges,鈥� Cauce said in her most recent .听

And they’re just getting started. Many PHI-funded projects are still in their earliest stages, leveraging initial funding to show proof-of-concept for their ideas and setting the stage for future work. Fourteen projects so far have received much larger grants to empower researchers and community partners to expand successful projects and scale up for greater impact.听

With the Initiative now a third of the way into its 25-year vision, 91爆料 News checked in with three projects that recently received funding to scale their efforts.听

Spotting potential memory health issues in rural Washington

Diagnosing memory health issues in the best of circumstances is extraordinarily difficult. Patients typically make multiple visits to their doctor and take a many of which can produce flawed results 鈥� people who take the same test more than once, for example, will often score higher, potentially masking memory loss. 听

It鈥檚 even harder in rural America, which has a Patients seeking memory care might have to make a long, expensive trip to a major city, which leads many people to wait until a problem becomes apparent. By then, it鈥檚 often too late 鈥� modern treatments can slow the progress of memory loss, but there鈥檚 no way to regain what鈥檚 been lost.听

鈥淪o, how do you catch it early?鈥� said , a 91爆料 associate professor of psychology. 鈥淲e give people an app to have them check for themselves.鈥澨�听

Stocco and , director of the 91爆料 Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Research Center, together with Hedderik van Rijn of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, led the development of an online program that can measure a person鈥檚 memory and predict their risk of memory disorders. Like a flash-card app that helps students cram for a test, the program shows pictures and asks the user to recall what they saw a few minutes earlier. The app records how quickly and accurately the user responds to each question and makes the next one a little easier or more difficult.听听

Researchers have long understood that a person鈥檚 ability to recall a specific memory tends to fade over time. This is called the 鈥�.鈥� In听 Stocco and van Rijn found that they could measure individual differences in the slopes of such curves.听 The app works by comparing a person鈥檚 responses to an internal model of forgetting and adjusting the slope of the model until it matches the responses. The resulting slope can be used to estimate the likelihood that their memory is fading faster than normal.听听

By taking the test regularly, a person can track their memory鈥檚 decline over time. But preliminary tests, Stocco said, have shown that even a single use can spot a potential problem.听

鈥淛ust by looking at a single lesson, based on the result, there鈥檚 almost a perfect correspondence between the speed of forgetting and your probability of being diagnosed by a doctor,鈥� Stocco said. 鈥淚t can be as accurate as the best clinical tests but, instead of taking two or three hours, this can be done in eight minutes, and you don鈥檛 need a doctor.鈥�听

A Tier 3 grant from the Population Health Initiative and a collaboration with the will allow the researchers to share the app with up to 500 people in rural and counties. Participants can take the test on their own time, and the results will be shared with researchers. If a potential problem emerges, the researchers plan to invite participants to Seattle for an in-person evaluation.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a solution that seems to solve these problems of early access and diagnostic bottlenecks,鈥� Stocco said. 鈥淚f this works, there鈥檚 no problem giving it to everybody in the state. We鈥檙e really interested in expanding and adding people from underrepresented populations and underrepresented areas, and the grant will allow us to do that.鈥�听

Nancy Spurgeon of the Central Washington Area Health Education Center is also a collaborator on the project to test the prototype app, which is not yet available to the public.听

Revamping the Point-In-Time Count to better understand King County鈥檚 unhoused population听

For years, volunteers fanned across King County on a cold night each January, flashlights and clipboards in hand, searching for people sleeping outside. They鈥檇 also gather the shelter head counts for that night. Officially called the , this effort attempted to tally the number of people who lacked stable housing. This endeavor was replicated in cities across the country, and the results were combined to create a national count that influences how the federal government allocates funding.听

There鈥檚 just one problem 鈥� the count is Volunteers can鈥檛 possibly find everybody. It captures only a single moment in time, and collects only limited data on people鈥檚 circumstances or personal needs. A person sleeping in their car might need different services than a person who sleeps in a tent, and the count didn鈥檛 fully capture that distinction.听

So, a team of 91爆料 researchers designed a better way to count. Their method, detailed in a published Sept. 4 in in the American Journal of Epidemiology, taps into people鈥檚 social networks to generate a more representative sample, which the researchers then ran through a series of calculations to estimate the total unhoused population.听听听

Called 鈥渞espondent-driven sampling,鈥� the method stations volunteers in common 鈥渉ubs,鈥� like libraries or community centers, and offers cash gift cards for in-person interviews and peer referrals. Volunteers collect detailed information on people鈥檚 circumstances and needs, giving each person three tickets to share with their unhoused peers. When those peers come in for an interview and show the ticket, the person who referred them receives another small reward. The new person gets a gift card and another three tickets.听

鈥淭his method gives people a more active voice in being counted. It鈥檚 a more humane way to count people, and it鈥檚 also voluntary,鈥� said , a 91爆料 associate professor of sociology and co-lead on the project. 鈥淭he regular PIT (Point-In-Time) count just counted people. Now we can collect all sorts of information from people on their circumstances and their needs. Should policymakers want to, they could leverage that data to change service offerings.鈥�听

The researchers received a Tier 2 grant to develop the system. They launched it in partnership with King County in 2022 and 2024, and were recently awarded a Tier 3 grant to test out the feasibility of running it quarterly.听听

鈥淩unning the count quarterly allows us to estimate how many people move in and out of homelessness and whether there are seasonal changes, which are rarely measured,鈥� Almquist said. 鈥淎lso, people鈥檚 needs change depending on the time of year, and this method will help us better understand those rhythms.鈥澨�听

Other cities and counties have expressed interest, the researchers said. The team has also begun to expand the effort, aiming to improve data across the broad spectrum of housing and homelessness services.听听

鈥淎 very important byproduct of this work across schools and departments at 91爆料 is that we can create an ecosystem of people and projects,鈥� said , a 91爆料 professor emeritus of health systems and population health and co-lead on the project. 鈥淲e鈥檝e spun off projects on sleep assessments, relationships with organizations that collect data on homelessness, and we鈥檙e mapping the sweeps of encampments in relationship to where people choose to be located. We have a whole network of homelessness-related research now.听

鈥淭hese PHI grants gave us the fuel to ignite these projects.鈥�听

Other collaborators are of the 91爆料 Department of Health Systems and Population Health and of the VA Health Services Research and Development; of the 91爆料 Departments of Sociology and Statistics; of the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology and the eScience Institute; and Owen Kajfasz, Janelle Rothfolk and Cathea Carey of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.听

Engaging community to mitigate flood risk in the Duwamish Valley听

More than a century ago, Seattle leaders set out to control and redirect the Duwamish River. They dredged the riverbed and dug out its twists and turns. Wetlands were filled in, the valley was paved over and a system of hydrology was severed. What had been a wild, winding river valley with regular flooding became an angular straightaway built for industry. But when 91爆料 postdoctoral scholar looks out at the Duwamish, she sees the river fighting back.听听

鈥淭he water was always there,鈥� Jeranko said, 鈥渁nd now it鈥檚 fighting to come back up.鈥澨�听

The river returned with devastating effect in December 2022, when a king tide and heavy rainfall , submerging homes and shuttering local businesses. The underserved neighborhood faces a significant risk of future floods.听

To mitigate that risk, the City of Seattle has updated the neighborhood鈥檚 stormwater drainage system and launched a new flood-warning system. But the , a nonprofit focused on river pollution and environmental health, saw an opportunity for something greater. The DRCC asked a team of 91爆料 researchers to help develop flood adaptation plans that are community-based, culturally responsive and that enrich the local environment.听听

鈥淚n the community, people don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 been enough engagement. There鈥檚 all this talk about flood mitigation, but all they see are sandbags,鈥� Jeranko said. 鈥淪o DRCC was like, 鈥楲ook, we really need the people who live in the flood zone to understand the solutions.鈥� Because we have this long-lasting relationship with them, they see us as someone who鈥檚 able to provide a list of solutions, not favor one over the others, and do it in an informative way.鈥�听

Boosted by a Tier 3 grant from the PHI, Jeranko and a team representing five 91爆料 departments, the Burke Museum and the DRCC are engaging with the community. This fall, the team will present the neighborhood with an expansive list of flood mitigation options and encourage city leaders to consider people鈥檚 preferences. Early work shows the community would favor nature-based solutions, Jeranko said. Floodable parks, for example, would provide ecological, recreational and public health benefits to the entire community, while storing flood water during storms.听听

鈥淚t has been wonderful to collaborate with the 91爆料 team on this to make sure we are centering community voices in every single step of the planning for climate resilience,鈥� said Paulina L贸pez, executive director of the DRCC. 鈥淐ommunity leadership and representation is indispensable to bring climate justice to the Duwamish Valley.鈥�听

Jeranko hopes their community-based model will be replicated by communities across the country facing similar risks from climate change and sea level rise.听

鈥淓ven though 91爆料 and a lot of other universities really support and invest in community-engaged work, a lot of times it鈥檚 fundamentally hard to make that research happen,鈥� Jeranko said. 鈥淏ut the Population Health Initiative grant was about supporting all those things.鈥�听

Other collaborators on the project are , and of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; of the Department of Landscape Architecture; of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; of the Quaternary Research Center and the Burke Museum; and L贸pez and Robin Schwartz of the DRCC.听

For more information on any of the projects mentioned, or to learn more about the 91爆料 Population Health Initiative, visit the Initiative’s website or contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.听听

Emily M. Bender, Yejin Choi named to TIME100 AI list

TIME included two 91爆料 professors on its first TIME100 AI list, which highlights 100 individuals who are advancing major conversations about how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world.

The list features听leaders, policymakers, artists and entrepreneurs across a variety of fields and countries. , professor of linguistics, and , professor听in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, were honored as top thinkers.

Bender has consistently raised ethical concerns regarding large language models and has resisted the notion that AI systems are truly intelligent. 鈥渁 machine-learning myth buster,鈥� who is working to dispel 鈥渙verblown promises about what AI can do.鈥�

Among other topics, Bender studies the societal impacts of language technology, the implications for research and design and how to integrate it into the natural language processing curriculum. She was named an AAAS fellow in 2022.

Choi, a MacArthur Fellow, focuses on discerning the various distinctions between human intelligence and AI. She researches whether AI can develop common sense and a sense of humor. Choi is now working to develop AI systems that can comprehend social and moral norms.

鈥淎 calculator can calculate better and faster than I do,鈥� Choi , 鈥渂ut it doesn鈥檛 mean that a calculator is superior to any of us in other dimensions of intelligence.鈥�

The full TIME100 AI list is available on .

President Ana Mari Cauce receives Decrees Award for 鈥榗ontribution to society鈥�

91爆料 President Ana Mari Cauce received a , which recognizes people and institutions that add value to and promote the economic and social improvement of Le贸n, Spain.

The awards were given for the first time in 2022. They are granted annually by the Association of Friends of the Decrees, which organizes the public reading of the Decrees of Le贸n of 1188 before the Royal Abbey of San Isidoro de Le贸n.听These documents contain the oldest known written information about the European parliamentary system.

President Cauce was honored for overseeing the launch of the in 2010. About 1,200 students have participated in 70 programs at the center, and the faculty includes representatives from 20 departments on all three 91爆料 campuses.

College of Built Environments鈥� Jeff Hou elected to American Society of Landscape Architects鈥� Council of Fellows

, 91爆料 professor of landscape architecture, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is based on members鈥� .

鈥淟andscape architects help build a better world for all of us, and ASLA Fellows represent the most respected and accomplished professionals in the entire field,鈥� said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney.

Hou is one of 48 newly elected Fellows, recognized specifically for his knowledge in 鈥渄emocratic design in the global built environment,鈥� elevating 鈥済rassroots activism for environmental equity and justice into the public, professional, and academic spheres.鈥澨鼳 member of the 91爆料 Department of Landscape Architecture since 2001, Hou has worked in communities around the world, on projects from wildlife habitat conservation to urban open space design. In addition to his work with community members, Hou has edited, co-edited and co-authored 12 books, and he has written dozens of book chapters and journal articles. He also won the 2023 Outstanding Educator Award from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.

An investiture ceremony for the ASLA Fellows is planned for the 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture in October.

Green Rat Clingfish, described by 91爆料 biologist Adam Summers, noted among ‘most remarkable’ new marine species of 2019听

The Green Rat Clingfish is having a moment of fame, thanks to , 91爆料 professor of biology and fishery sciences, and his co-authors.

That’s because the has included the fish, first described by the researchers in a 2018 in the journal ZooKeys, as one of the “10 most remarkable new marine species from 2019.” The group the list on March 19, to coincide with Taxonomist Appreciation Day. Taxonomy is the science of naming, defining and classifying groups of organisms by shared characteristics.

The Green Rat Clingfish, or Barryichthys algicola, is a small, slender, green fish with a paler green stripe on the side of its tiny head, an orange iris and green fins. Among the smallest species of clingfish, it lives on algae along the southern Australian coast. Summers and co-authors of Texas A&M University and of the Western Australia Museum, in Perth, described the fish based on 22 specimens found in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. They also created a new genus 听鈥� above species, below family in the taxonomic naming 鈥� Barryichthys.

Summers said of the discovery: “It is tiny and bright green, and it has a belly sucker. What could be better in a fish?”

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Mari Ostendorf named a corresponding fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy, has chosen听, 91爆料 professor of electrical and computer engineering, as one its new corresponding fellows for 2020.

Ostendorf was named one of eight corresponding fellows,听听March 3. Fellows are leading thinkers and experts whose work has had a significant impact on the nation of Scotland. The corresponding fellow designation is for those who have attained high international standing in fields in the society’s domain, but who are not residents of the United Kingdom.

The society named听, who join the 1600 existing fellows from diverse fields such as physical and life sciences, arts, humanities, social sciences, education, business, industry and public life.

Ostendorf, who came to the 91爆料 in 1999, is a professor of systems design methodologies in electrical and computer engineering and an adjunct professor of linguistics and of computer science and engineering. She is also the 91爆料听associate vice provost for research.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh was established in 1783 under the mission “Knowledge made useful.” Of 91爆料 faculty,听John Scott, chair of the Department of Pharmacology, is also a corresponding听听with the society.

Read more on the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering听.

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Thaisa Way receives 2020 Outstanding Educator Award from Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture

The Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture has given , 91爆料 professor of landscape architecture, its Outstanding Educator Award for 2020.

The award, one of 11 award the council gives annually to faculty members, honors “truly outstanding, innovative and noteworthy work as an educator whose career is recognized as having made a significant contribution to the landscape architecture discipline.” Among the requirements for nomination is that the faculty member’s work must have been recognized at the national or international level in two or more of these areas: research, public service, outreach or service to education.

Way, an urban landscape historian, was to receive the award in person at the council’s 2020 conference, planned for March in Louisville, Kentucky, but the event was canceled due to the coronavirus.

She has written or edited several books, including “” in 2015, published by 91爆料 Press, which came out in paperback last year.

91爆料 Notebook is a section of the 91爆料 News site dedicated to telling stories of the good work done by faculty and staff at the 91爆料. Read all posts here.

$10 tickets for 91爆料 students when you show your Husky ID in advance at the or on the night of the show at the Box Office at Meany Hall.

Exhibition Opening: Illusion, multimedia installation by Haein Kang

October 4, 6 to 8 pm | 4Culture Gallery

Illusion is an instrument powered by alpha brain waves, signals produced by our visual cortex in the absence of optical stimuli or when we close our eyes and relax. Haein Kang, a PhD candidate at DXARTS, interactive audiovisual installation integrates percussion instruments, video projection, and EEG signals.

This exhibition is supported by a 4Culture Art Projects grant, CoMotion MakerSpace, and DXARTS at the 91爆料.

Curator Talk: Form, Function, and the Body

October 6, 2 to 3 pm | Henry Art Gallery

Join curators as they share their perspectives and expand upon core ideas in current exhibitions. In this gallery talk, Nina Bozicnik, associate curator, will discuss the making of the work in and the ways these figurative sculptures disarticulate the body and challenge inherited fictions.

What makes a good artificial reef, for divers, and for marine life? 91爆料 landscape architecture students have done designs for a state-funded project to replace the artificial reef at the Redondo Beach dive site. They will present and discuss their work in a public meeting May 30, in Des Moines.

The landscape architecture studio class is taught by associate professor , with lecturer and landscape designer , who is working on her doctorate at the University of Melbourne. Both are with the 91爆料’s .

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and dive community will be removing debris from the underwater location, one of the most popular dive sites in the Puget Sound area. This will include removal of toxic material, as well as small boats and even a long-sunken Volkswagen “Beetle” that have over the years become a habitat for much marine life. The work also will include removing abandoned tires from established geoduck beds to compensate for any habitat loss due to reef construction.

An is a human-made structure generally built to promote marine life and to which organisms like algae, barnacles, corals and oysters attach, and which become habitat, and a food source, for fish.

Previous smaller, of the dive site have produced such items as knives, syringes, election yard signs and even an old road scooter, as well as, of course, a lot of fishing rigs.

The latest state capital budget includes $500,000 budgeted for the reef project.

“What makes a good artificial reef boils down to structure and complexity,” said Robertson. “A variety of different-sized spaces for marine life to live in, and suitable surfaces for marine life to attach to. Stability and longevity are also desirable.”

The presentation will be from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at the , 28203 Redondo Beach Drive South, in Des Moines.

The seven graduates and undergraduates in the studio class have already presented some aspects of their designs and are now gathering those into a single group proposal to present for May 30.

The main client for the class, Robertson and Sullivan said, is the Washington State Scuba Alliance, but they consider the City of Des Moines and the MaST Center, from whom they have had involvement and interest, also as clients.

“And as landscape architects,” Robertson added, “we also consider the developing marine ecosystem itself as a ‘client.'”

The student designs, Robertson said, “combine the wisdom of science with the insights of art to create ideal reef conditions for the development of complex marine ecosystems and engaging diver experiences.”

The has a long history of developing plans and designs for community groups throughout the region. Studios, Robertson and Sullivan said, are ideal educational environments for combining disciplinary research into real-world projects.

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For more information, contact Robertson at 206-543-9246 or iainmr@uw.edu or Sullivan at sulli@uw.edu.

is a professor of landscape architecture and adjunct professor of urban design and planning in the 91爆料’s . His research, teaching and practice focus on community design, design activism, cross-cultural learning and engaging marginalized communities in planning and design.

Hou has written extensively on the agency of听citizens and communities in shaping the built environments. He is the author of several books, including 听(2010).

His newest book is “,” co-edited by , associate professor for urban culture and public space at the Vienna University of Technology, and published by Routledge. Hou answered a few questions about his book for 91爆料 News.

What’s the concept of the book and how did it come about?

JH: The book examines the roles of public space in the rising number of protests around the world and as possibly a vestige of democracy. Specifically, we are interested in how urban public spaces provide visibility to critical social, political and economic issues of our time, how they allow a variety of participants and stakeholders to assemble, and how they necessitate negotiation of different interests and perspectives. As the book is a collection of case studies around the world from Barcelona to Brazil, Madrid to Mexico City, and Taipei to Tokyo, we are also interested in the common features that link these different cases.

The book came out my visiting professorship in Vienna in 2014 through the (SKuOR) at TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology). During that time, my host professor Knierbein and I were interested in expanding the contemporary thinking on the role of public space. As we were both interested in recent social movements around the world, the relationships between urban resistance and public space quickly came to focus.

What do recent urban resistance tactics around the world have in common in their use of public space?

JH: Some of the common threads include the use of social media for messaging and enabling spontaneous mass mobilizing in a way that was not possible before. The communication technology also allows for a much more rapid dissemination of information, allowing movements to spread in regions and become networked.

Other common threads include creative uses of public space that welcome a variety of participants, even parents and children. During the Occupy Movement as well as a number of other examples, ordinary plazas or streets were transformed to places that would host mobile libraries, art workshops and day cares, as well as areas for tents, food and recycling stations, etc. There were also performances and music that helped create an ambience that made them more festival-like than protests, hence the term protestival.

“Acts of public space-based resistance,” you write, “disrupt the neoliberal taming of public life.” Could you explain for the non-expert?

JH: Neoliberalism is a system of governance that favors privatization, austerity, deregulation and reduction in government spending. With declining public funding, the development and maintenance of parks and other open space has relied increasingly on private funding, resulting in the privatization of public space.

At the same time, with diminishing support for public space, private spaces such as shopping malls have increasingly replaced streets and plazas as more desirable places of everyday life. These trends have led to a kind of public space and public life that is “tamed” and devoid of possibilities for active political expressions. How often do we see a political gathering at a mall, for example? In a way, the recent public space-based resistance has revived a role of public space that enables the freedom of expression and assembly to be exercised.

Have not public spaces been the scene of protest and conflict throughout history? What is unique about their 21^st听century manifestations?

JH: Yes, public spaces have long been the scene of protest and conflict in history, which we acknowledge in the book. Aside from the role of technology and social media, and the popularity of protestivals, one of the main features of recent protests worldwide has to do with how they are all responding to the different manifestations and impacts of neoliberalism. From debt and the housing crisis in Spain and austerity in Greece to gentrification in San Francisco, the issues that the local populations are facing all share a common thread in the way neoliberal practices are undermining the institutions of democracy that protect the rights and welfare of individuals and communities. The recent protests are part of a large process of mobilization, learning and reawakening to these challenges.

You begin by asking, “What is the significance of urban resistance and public space in the age of shrinking democracy and increasing enclosure?” What, briefly put, were your conclusions?

JH: Our main conclusion is this: These recent protests suggest the important role of public space in supporting active democracy at a time when our democratic institutions are being threatened and undermined by neoliberal practices and resurgence of totalitarianism.

More specifically, public space is important as a means for mass assembly and for bringing attention and visibility to issues that are important to communities and the society. By serving as a stage for contests of interests and perspectives, it is a space of learning. By enabling linkages of issues and challenges, it is also a space for re-scaling and re-politicizing, meaning that a local issue may be an outcome of systematic exploitation, and that this realization can trigger an engagement of political mobilization at a different scale.

Lastly, public space can serve as what we call grounds of alter-politics, a space where alternative visions of society and political engagement can take form.

Finally, you argue that with democracy in retreat globally, public space demonstrations and resistance have an even greater role to play in holding governments accountable to their people. Minus such resistance, you write, “democracy is at risk of becoming stagnant, narrow and obsolete.” Based on your research, what might the future hold for public spaces continuing to feed democracy, and even equity and justice?

JH: The future of public space and democracy is contingent upon our actions. In the wake of the recent protests, there have already been measures for policing taken by authorities that are intended to discourage assemblies or actions that lead to large gatherings. Big data and advanced surveillance technology, including facial recognition can be mobilized for the purpose of policing as well.

Our ability in fighting against these practices will determine the future of our democracy. With public space playing such an important role for freedom of speech and assembly and for holding institutions accountable to the public, the fight for public space is also a fight for democracy that protects equity and justice around the world.

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For more information about Hou and his work, contact him at 206-543-7225 or jhou@uw.edu.

Most landscape architecture projects conjure up an image of a permanent structure meant to be experienced indefinitely. But for , a 2016 graduate of the 91爆料鈥檚 master鈥檚 program, it means exploring the temporary nature of urban terrains.

Earlier this year, Shepard brought life back to a vacant and demolished lot in the University District 鈥� although it was only a short-lived endeavor.

Shepard鈥檚 thesis project 鈥溾�� centered around a Washington State Employee Credit Union-owned site, once home to Clark鈥檚 Restaurant decades ago.

will soon use the site, located at 1121 NE 45th Street, for its new building. But for one week in March, it was part art exhibit, part archeological dig and part garden.

While studying landscape architecture at the 91爆料, Shepard said his work focused on revelatory design, an approach that reveals hidden ecological, cultural or material qualities in a site.

鈥淚 started to look at urban sites in transition 鈥� margins, cleared sites, vacant lots awaiting new construction 鈥� and began to understand them as fallow sites, places where a new kind of interaction could emerge to reveal the landscape鈥檚 genius loci,鈥� Shepard said.

Once completed, passersby听were encouraged to walk through Site 1121 along the prefabricated boardwalks and examine the artifacts that were uncovered, which were laid out on work tables.

Shepard said the short-term nature of the installation was a key to its success.

鈥淧eople really connected to the opportunity to 鈥榟it pause鈥� and observe the changing forms in the urban landscape,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ach visitor had to grasp the fact that Site 1121 would only last for a week, and that soon a new building would occupy the site.鈥�

Related:听

This approach, he added, could be done at various sites throughout the city.

鈥淭he fabric of the city is changing so much and so fast, we can be looking for ways to prioritize more culturally and environmentally activated places,鈥� Shepard said. 鈥淚 have presented this idea to the Seattle Parks Department as a way of curating some of the many land-banked sites they are responsible for. I also think the university could follow this design approach to improve the livability and urban integration of the campus ecosystem as it grows.鈥�

is an associate professor of landscape architecture in the 91爆料 and author of “” She answered a few questions about the book and the work of Haag, whom she often fondly calls “Rich.”

Q: Here we have an affectionate and detailed biography of ,听well-known landscape architect and founder in 1964 of the 91爆料’s . How did you come to write this book?

TW: When听I arrived in Seattle to teach at the 91爆料 in 2007,听I needed a project that would ground me in my new place 鈥� so as a historian听I looked for a good story, one that would allow me to discover this place and the community听I had joined. Rich Haag was a terrific story as he had founded the department听I was now teaching in and he was known for pushing the boundaries of design, something听I wanted to do as a teacher and writer.

Q: Haag spent 1953 to 1955 in Japan on a Fulbright Fellowship. How did his time there affect his later career? What influences from that time can be seen in his public work?

TW: There is a whole chapter on this so听I will refrain here, except to say that Rich’s photographs of Japan inspired a whole generation of architecture students to become landscape architects 鈥� including , , Bob Hanna, and Frank James among others. Rich’s view of the world is deeply embedded in a mix of his Kentucky youth and his Japan experience.

Q: Haag will always be associated with his award-winning work creating Seattle’s Gas Works Park on a ruined, toxic industrial site. Why, unlike so many other possible plans for the area, did he decide to keep the industrial buildings there?

TW: Re-seeing the industrial buildings and the toxic landscapes of Gas Works reveals the power and magic of a good designer 鈥� one who is an artist, a scientist and an activist. Rich re-imagined the post-industrial wasteland because he saw and continues to see the world through the lens of design, imagination and art. He preserved the character of the landscape because it was and remains a part of our urban history, our cultural legacy 鈥� it is a part of us 鈥� and thus not something we can simply throw away and make disappear.

By engaging our legacy instead of covering it over and throwing it out, he is suggesting through the design of a public place that we can learn from and with and of our places 鈥� from the simplest corner of overgrown meadow to the sweeping landforms of Gas Works to the towers and the barns.

As people and as communities we mark, transform and shape our landscapes. Re-seeing these places after we have damaged them should not require merely hiding them. For Gas Works Park Rich helped us re-imagine the landscape and make a place that we continue to learn with. It inspires us to think carefully about how we mark, transform and shape our future landscapes. It instigates activism and civic engagement. It gives pleasure and joy.

Q: You repeat landscape architect and writer Gary R. Hilderbrand’s comment that “for a group of idealistic, young people rebelling against architecture, Haag, with an almost religious zeal, delivered an epiphany: The landscape is the site for urgent and meaningful work.” What was his meaning, and why were these young idealists said to be rebelling against architecture?

TW: In the early 1960s many young people, college students, wanted to foster a different relationship with the world than what they saw around them 鈥� they wanted to steward the environment, to be a part of a larger community that questioned the authority of past generations, and they wanted to be fully engaged in the arts, in experience.

And for young architects, architecture as a traditional profession and practice appeared to have too many rules and boundaries and barriers. On the other hand, landscape was wide open, literally and figuratively. Rich made such work the place of difference 鈥� he demonstrated through his own work that designing the public realm of parks, plazas, streets and campuses could be critical contributions to society.

He inspired students to realize the potential of public space to foster democracy as they imagined it. Cities are knit together by their public landscapes, by the public realm. Rich opened the eyes of young designers to the potential of focusing on this amazing domain or space of design 鈥� essentially designing the urban landscape.

Q: Speaking of those students, what is Haag’s ongoing legacy among current and future students of the 91爆料 College of Built Environments?

TW: Rich’s legacy is in his places that continue to inspire and ignite 鈥� they inspire students to think beyond what they know, to push their own imagination beyond the places they have seen. They ignite civic engagement and public service, for Rich鈥檚 most important work was in the public realm.

Such work underscores the amazing contributions of designers to the public realm, and not just to the facades but to the very fabric that makes the city a place to live, work and dream.

Students continue to come to the 91爆料 and the College of Built Environments to follow in those footsteps. Today our focus on community participatory design is another extension of this focus on听the听public realm and the city. This听is all part of Richard Haag’s legacy.

• Video by 91爆料 Press