WSU News Archive

By Becki Meehan, WSU Spokane

 

 

Photos above: 1. Airstream transported to Spokane. 2. Stripped interior. 3. Composite Materials and Engineering Center faculty and students discuss project.  4. Student drills out rivets fastening the shell to the frame. 5. Shell reinforced. 6. Front of shell lifted off of frame. (Photos courtesy of  the Interdisciplinary Design Institute.)

 

 

 

SPOKANE - Six graduate students from the Interdisciplinary Design Institute at WSU Spokane were just introduced to an American icon in the travel industry, a 1958 Airstream Overlander trailer. They have eight weeks to delve into the world of travel trailers and transform the interior into livable space all while exploring the sustainability issues of todays society and challenging the current image of the travel trailer industry.

 

The 26 foot trailer is the focus of a summer design studio led by clinical assistant professor, Todd Beyreuther and master of architecture students Shona Bose, Aaron Pasquale, Jeff Smith, and Brandon Patterson, and master of interior design students Ashlee Holtman and Kait Tripp-Addison will not only redesign the trailer, but they will think about how its design can solve very global and economic issues related to mobility and living in small spaces.

 

"The design will likely be a fluid, digital form within an American icon of manufacturing and mobility with its aluminum skin, rivets, and curves," said Beyreuther. "We dont want to touch the iconicity, but we do want to address some of todays larger scale issues with the new design."

 

The team of students has taken on the management roles of construction, marketing, social media, financing, digital modeling, and manufacturing to simulate what they would normally experience on a construction project in their practicing professions. The course will concentrate on the design transformation of interior components of this Airstream chassis while preserving its historic exterior character.

 

When designing a new interior for an older object, there are many challenges. Fortunately, this group started with a blank slate -- this trailer was gutted prior to arriving at WSU Spokane. With the latest technology in their hands, they have the means to digitally map the surfaces to 1/100 of an inch and later create a 3D digital design to give exact specifications directly to manufacturing for a perfect fit of the new materials.

 

"It's a great opportunity for the students to explore global scale issues of sustainability and mobile lifestyles through a design | build project that that focuses on product design, materials, and manufacturing at a scale much smaller than typically addressed in architecture and interior design," saidBeyreuther.

 

Marketed as one of the lightest travel trailers out there, the original logo even depicts a person on a bicycle pulling the Airstream. This group takes that logo one step further and tackles the issues of sustainability and explores the possibility of taking this trailer off the grid. Does it make sense? Be sure to follow along and find out how this group of students address these issues and incorporates them into the new interior design.

 

Win the Airstream
When all is done, this newly polished and designed trailer will hit the road for various events throughout the fall semester. At the end of its journey with the design students, it will be sold, and you could be the one to add more traveling adventures and stories to its collection. If you are interested, be sure to follow along on Facebook , Twitter , Flickr, and the WSU Airstream Blog to find out how you can have a chance to be the next owner. (Tour dates will be announced at a later date.) Supporting WSU Airstream Studio

 

Current partners of the WSU Airstream Studio are Composite Materials and Engineering Center and the Institute for Sustainable Design at the WSU Pullman campus. As the project progresses, future partners will be sought. Stay in touch and let us know if you want to help support the WSU Airstream project. Please contact Todd Beyreuther beyreuther@wsu.edu or Brady Crook at crook@wsu.edu for more information.

 

 

 

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