Alpha-beta cube @ wwu

The Alpha-beta Cube was built in 1972 but erected in 1975. Now located in the courtyard of Western’s Fairhaven residence. It was once Placed between Haggard Hall and the Wilson Library but had to be moved. Bassetti wanted to incorporate themes of both of those buildings into the sculpture. Possibly to make it connect and belong better to the area it was built in. When designing the cube, it is believed he may have been inspired by the garden at the IBM Building in Armonk, New York, which was designed by Isamu Noguchi, (Smith)

There are twelve redwood logs hewn at the ends, placed two by two to complete a square. These are mounted on a post and concrete pad. Inside of the square is a suspended 38 sided polyhedron made from bronze that includes mathematical symbols like pi, infinity and numbers engraved upon it.  Some have even speculated that when these letters are separated in the right way, they spell out the alphabet and… all [the] famous literary authors and characters from Moses to Jane Eyre. That remains to be proved.

Fred Basetti (1917-2013), held a Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Washington and a Masters of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He played a part in designing numerous Washington State buildings. The companies he owned or shared ownership in won “nearly 100 awards” over the years for doing so. From the Seattle Municipal Tower and the Woodland Park Children’s Petting Zoo, to the Seattle Aquarium, numerous public school facilities in Seattle, The United States Air Force McChord Air Force Base Family Housing, United States Department of State: U.S. Embassy Lisbon, Portugal, United States Government Federal Office Building #3, Downtown Seattle, WA., United States Navy, Whidbey Island Naval Base Housing, and The University of Washington Engineering Library.

Mr. Basetti also took part in the design of numerous installations here on the campus of Western Washington University, including the Carver Gym, the bookstore, Fraser Hall, the Humanities Building, “the entirety of the Ridgeway Complex”, and the addition to the Wilson Library. In a quote taken from History.org. “Bassetti refers often to ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ when describing his design philosophy. He lets his designs evolve naturally, drawing inspiration from the surroundings and… [gives] structural considerations [from] the site itself.” Mr. Bassetti has himself said– “In the same way that the play of the sun and wind determine the growth of a plant, the environment can shape the best design for a building.” (3)

Mr. Bassetti was known to give high consideration to the surrounding environment in order to “soften and humanize [a] building[s] design”, Whenever he designed anything, he always gave serious consideration to the site and its surroundings. (4)

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Smith, Carol. Seattle post intelligencer, 2013, web.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Fred-Bassetti-architect-and-shap)…

http://www.historylink.org/File/8959

https://www.bassettiarch.com/index.php/firm/legacy/

https://westerntoday.wwu.edu/features/fred-bassetti-designed-much-of-westerns-campu

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Site Administration: Richard C. Tremper

Text By: Ryan  Olson, Richard C. Tremper

Photos: Richard C. Tremper

tremper@wwu.edu

rpolson34@wwu.edu.