Rural Studio Walter's Way

 This week in class we talked about social architecture and how it can provide justice in architecture and the built environment. An example of that is Samuel Mockbee’s Rural Studio which is a design-build program through Auburn University. Mockbee’s philosophy for the program is to go into the poorest county in the state and begin by observing the community there and understanding what it is they need. I appreciate this approach to design because it isn’t about designing and building just to do it, they are trying to better the community and listen to their needs. I think it could be interesting to combine the Rural Studio principles of going into the community and speaking with them about their needs and then beginning to design with the ideas together with Walter Segal’s modular construction that allows the user to construct their own home or building. I think that getting the community involved in a barn-raising of such with community and residential structures in a town could get the townspeople to invest more time and energy into where they’re living. This is how things used to be built in small communities and I think there’s value in that and could bring great forth pride in those that live in the community. 

NEWBERN FIREHOUSE | RURAL STUDIO

MODULAR CONSTRUCTION | WALTER SEGAL