The small village of Newbern, AL rarely finds its way into the New York Times but it did recently. Newbern sits in the heart of Hale County, a Black Belt town known for cotton, cattle, and abject poverty. However, Newbern has become the center of an exciting experiment with Auburn University called the Rural Studio. Founded by the late Samuel Mockbee 14 years ago, architecture students from Auburn build and design "architecturally distinctive" homes and buildings around Hale County using a wide swath of materials including old tires, windshields, and bottles. While donations of more traditional building supplies have allowed more conventional looks in some cases, it is the commitment to the people their culture, and their quality of life that defines this work. The studio's core mandate "to produce environmentally sensitive designs for the rural poor" has not faltered but the studio has taken on new challenges. For example, the students are dismantling and moving St. Luke's Episcopal Church to its original site; they have built a ball field and a Boys and Girls Club.
What is so impressive about the Rural Studio goes far beyond the bricks/mortar and windshields it uses; the real genius of this effort is the commitment to preserve, improve, and build community. My college roommate grew up in Newbern so I know it well. In fact it was the students of the Rural Studio that saved her family's home from burning down a few years ago. This model of application of learning is one that should be considered in every architecture school, business school, and teacher training program in the country. We have the know-how to affect affordable housing, small business development, and educational attainment and the solutions could come from our best and brightest students.
For more information read PROCEED AND BE BOLD—Rural Studio After Samuel Mockbee (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005).
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