Rural Studio

Rural Studio Restroom at Perry Landing

The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University. It aims to teach students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture while also providing safe, well-constructed and inspirational homes and buildings for poor communities in rural west Alabama, part of the so-called "Black Belt".

The studio was founded in 1993 by architects Samuel Mockbee and D. K. Ruth. It is led by UK-born architect Andrew Freear. Each year the program builds five or so projects - a house by the second-year students, three thesis projects by groups of 3-5 fifth-year students, and one or more outreach studio projects. The Rural Studio has built more than 80 houses and civic projects in Hale, Perry and Marengo counties. The Rural Studio is based in Newbern, a small town in Hale County. Many of its best-known projects are in the tiny community of Mason's Bend, on the banks of the Black Warrior River.

$20K House

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. Nearly 30% of individuals in Hale County live in poverty. Due to the lack of conventional credit for people with this level of income, and insufficient knowledge about alternative sources of funding, mobile homes offer the only chance for home ownership for many. Unlike a house, which is an asset for its owner, trailers deteriorate very quickly and depreciate in value over time. Mobile homes are also linked with higher cancer rates due to the use of formaldehydes in their construction.

The $20k house project intends to produce a model home that could be reproduced on a large scale, and thereby become a viable alternative to the mobile home in this area. The challenge is to build a house for $20,000, ten to twelve thousand of which will go towards materials and the remainder 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 16 iterations of the house so far. The project is typically carried out by four outreach students, international post-graduates with a background in architecture or design.

Projects

By year. Some designers are listed.

2010–2011

2009–2010

2008–2009

2007–2008

2006–2007

Karamjit Birk, Sabina Nieto, Jane Sloss, Jeremy Aranoff, and Prof. Steven "white lightning" Long

Amy Songer, Amy Cook, Cassandra Kellogg, Jessica Moeller, Casey Patterson, Joe Kochak, Lea Henley, April Brown, Nicole Dennis, Courtney Mathias, Katie Owens, Amanda Peterson, Michael Shows, Scott Smith, Daniel Stewart, John Thompson, Brittany Winslett, Cameron Acheson, William Batey, Nick Biship, Chris Currie, Christine Dingivan, Golpar Garmestani, Erin Graves, Sarah Hollerman, Eric Hutchinson, Adam Leonard, Frances Leon, John Mansour, Candace Rimes, Jamie Sartory, Fuller Sherrod, Walker Stone, Nick Wickersham

2005–2006

2004–2005

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, Hanna Loftus, Minn Joo Kim

2003–2004

2002–2003

2001–2002

2000–2001

1999–2000

1998–1999

1997–1998

1996–1997

1995–1996

1994–1995

1993–1994

References

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Coordinates: 32°35′20″N 87°32′02″W / 32.58877°N 87.53378°W / 32.58877; -87.53378

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