Alphabeta Cube (1972) was designed by Fred Bassetti and was originally located outside of the Wilson Library. It was later moved to its current location, nestled in the landscape of the Fairhaven Complex on south campus.  It’s design includes interlocking beams that make up a cube, with a hanging dice whose faces depict letters, numbers, and mathematical symbols.  The idea for the Alphabeta cube came to Bassetti as he was designing the addition for the Wilson Library.  He said, “It seemed appropriate that something be said about language – about letters, words and sentences.” Inspiration came from an ad in the American Public Library Association that used the letters of the alphabet to describe the functions of the Library. To make it more relatable to college and knowledge, Bassetti also included pi and mathematical symbols. Bassetti also owned a company that made cardboard toys, and this is also seen as inspiration for the cube.

Fred Bassetti was born in the Seattle area in 1917 and died in Oregon in 2013.  He traveled Italy as a youth, and later attended University of Washington, originally as a student of engineering.  After a year he deemed engineering to dry, and switched to studying architecture. He graduated from University of Washington in 1942, and got his masters at the Harvard school of Architecture in 1946.  He worked for a variety of firms throughout his life, and additionally had a teaching career that included positions as a guest critic at Columbia University, lecturing at Columbia University, MIT, Rice University, and the Universities of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.  Other works by Bassetti on campus include the Viking Union Building, an addition to Mabel Zoe Wilson Library, the Humanities Building, Ridgeway Dormitories, the Bookstore, and more. He is known for his architecture that shaped the Seattle skyline and other works in the greater Northwest, such as the Keystone building in Seattle and the Seattle Aquarium.  He worked mostly as an architect, designing building to fit their location as a reflection of their environment, using wood, natural materials and a responsiveness to the surrounding terrain and views. This is reflected in the design of the Alphabeta Cube, as it fits perfectly in its environment amongst the trees.  

Words and 3D scan by Mallory Clawson and Jordan Reidt