Crossover

 “A final piece of Mockbee’s Rural Studio collage was his 1990 visit to a Clemson University-sponsored architecture program in Genoa, Italy, where he was impressed by the students’ camaraderie. He returned home ready to explore the idea of creating a similar project in the American South.” - excerpt from Rural Studio (Samuel Mockbee and an Architecture of Decency)

It’s interesting to read about a firsthand account of our own architecture school contributing in a way to this body of architectural theory through the experience and curriculum of not only the Genoa program, but all of our programs which share similar values and teachings to the Rural Studio.

I am reminded of a topical quote ingrained in my memory by our Italian faculty professor Luca Rocco: “If your architecture is designed for everywhere, it does not belong anywhere.”

I had no idea in those moments that this sentiment was the baseline of such a well-established architectural theory, but it made a great deal of sense, and now looking back I can certainly see foundations of Critical Regionalism in most of my architectural education.

Whether it’s Mockbee’s resourceful design/build studio for impoverished Alabama residents or the villa’s teachings on cultural design in places that may be foreign to us, it’s clear that finding and designing for a specific sense of community and empathy is what truly unites users and designers alike.