Rural Studio vs Community Build

One of the reasons I decided to attend grad school at Clemson was the Community Build program. I had learned so much about the projects as an undergrad and I knew if I was going to attend the same school for my masters, it would be for this reason.

My experience in the program was somewhat different than what I expected. The first studio I took worked with local non-profits and the projects were very small…. a small stage for a single performer or folly architecture for a couple of users. In my second semester, in Charleston, our project took a 180; we worked with a for-profit organization. The company is actually so financially stable, that our budget more than doubled during the semester and the scale was still small, 8’x8’ structures.

In class we talked about the Rural Studio being successful for Clemson. In addition to the points talked about in class, I do not think the Community Build program could ever be similar to the Rural Studio until the same approach to scarcity is taken. The students of Rural studio have the task of fundraising, looking and having material donated, they are working with what they have. At Clemson, we always seem to have an abundance of donors willing to donate and we, as students, have never been faced with that same level of scarcity. There will always be a difference between the programs because of this.