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The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture school and studio class run by Auburn University. It teaches students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture and provides houses and buildings for poor communities in rural west Alabama, US, part of what is called the "Black Belt".
The studio was founded in 1993 by architects Samuel Mockbee and D. K. Ruth. Following Mockbee's death in 2001 and Ruth's change in position at the University in 2002, the leadership position of the studio went to UK-born architect and associate professor, Andrew Freear. The Rural Studio is based in Newbern, a small town in Hale County, Alabama. Many of its best-known projects are in the tiny community of Mason's Bend, on the banks of the Black Warrior River, as well as in the nearby Perry and Marengo counties. Each year the program builds several projects: a house by the second-year students, and 2-3 community-oriented thesis projects by groups of fifth-year students.
Rural Studio is generally praised for serving underprivileged communities and specifically aiding to house impoverished families. The vision of Samuel Mockbee for the studio was to teach architecture students how to make connections with and create buildings that actually serve their target community. They are encouraged to find ways of incorporating nontraditional and cost-effective materials into their designs. For example, the first house built by The Rural Studio, the Hay Bale house, used large bricks of stucco covered hay bales as the main wall material.
However, the studio has also been criticized for the way its projects take advantage of the power relations inherent in gift-giving, and for mistaking elitist architectural and middle-class values, rather than the process of political emancipation and self-determination, as a way to improve the lives of the poor. Pushback is often regarding how the studio views themselves as superior to those they are serving and victimizes the poor communities they engage with.
The first project ever completed by the Rural Studio was a house for the Bryant family of Mason's Bend. Working directly with Shepard and Alberta Bryant and their grandchildren as well as with the Hale County Department of Human Resources, the second-year students of Rural Studio created a unique and affordable place for this family to live. The most notable aspect of this design was the construction of the walls. They were created from stacked hay bales that had been coated in a cement plaster, providing insulation that was both inexpensive and environmentally sustainable. Other aspects of this design include a large front porch and plentiful natural ventilation access, both in response to the climate and culture of the area.
In the late 2010s, the studio renovated, restored, and made an addition to the Safe House Black History Museum in Greensboro, Alabama. The redesign was awarded third place in American Architect's Building of the Year competition.
The $20K House is an ongoing research project at the Rural Studio that seeks to address the pressing need for decent and affordable housing in Hale County, Alabama. When the project initiated in 2005, nearly 30% of the people in Hale County were living in poverty. Due to the lack of conventional credit for people with their level of income and insufficient knowledge about alternative sources of funding, mobile homes offer the only chance for home ownership for many. However, trailers deteriorate very quickly and depreciate over time, making them not ideal for long-term living.
The $20k House project is intended to design a model home that could be reproduced on a large scale and thereby become a viable alternative to a mobile home. The challenge is for the students to design a house with a budget of $20,000. The basis is that about $10,000-12,000 will go towards materials and the remainder will go to contracted labor. Once a truly successful model has been designed, the aim is to sell the houses in conjunction with the "502 Direct Loan" provided by the Rural Housing Service. The project began in 2005, and there have been at least 16 iterations of the house.
By year. Some designers are listed.
Adrienne Brady, Natalie Butts, Paul Howard, Coley Mulcahy
Dereck Aplin, Sam Currie, Amy Bell, Angela Hughey, Turnley Smith
Steven Long, Amy Bullington
David Garner
Kellie Stokes, Laura Noguera, Phillip March Jones, Hana Loftus, Min Joo Kim
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