Twenty-three years ago, Sam “Sambo” Mockabee, a pioneer of social justice architecture, founded Auburn Universiy’s ‘Rural Studio‘ program. His goal" To design and build decent and affordable housing for low-income families in Hale County, Alabama, 30-percent of whom lived in poverty.
“Architecture won’t begin to alleviate all social woes,” (but) “it is a necessary step in the willingness to seek solutions to poverty in its own context,” said Mockbee.
The idea was to provide an affordable alternative to trailer homes, the only viable route to home ownership for many residents in the area. (Though trailers depreciate in value over time and deteriorate fairly quickly, typically they do not require a high level of conventional credit funding.)
“The Rural Studio was created by Samuel Mockbee and longtime friend D.K. Ruth in 1993 to simultaneously demystify modern architecture and expose architecture students to extreme poverty in their own backyard. Both Mockbee and Ruth have passed away, but their legacy lives on in the thriving Rural Studio community,” according to Mockbee website.
After Mockbee died in 2001, Andrew Freear succeeded him as director and the program continues to give architecture students a hands-on educational experience while assisting an underserved population in West Alabama’s Black Belt region. Initially known for its ethos of recycling, reusing and remaking, it has widened...