War Eagle!!
Being an Auburn Alumni, I am keenly familiar with the Rural Studio and its lasting impact on Hale County. Admittedly, I did not know how well-known the program was across the country. The reading from Mockbee really dives into the heart of the studio and his intentions within it. Mockbee reflects on his student's development and how "as architects, their goodness is more important than their greatness, their compassion more eventful than their passion" throughout the process of the rural studio. I love this quote and think that it is such a virtuous aim for the praxis of architecture. Along with Mockbee's writing, Scarcity Contra Austerity, by Jeremy Till, brings aligned concepts of architectural practice...
Till speaks about the inefficiencies of distribution. Till uses the example of world hunger, and how we have enough food to support everyone who lives on earth but that distribution causes hunger. Till writes "Though the scarcity might be artificial, the hunger is real" with the food system.
Taking this concept and applying it to the housing market is interesting to me... We have enough homes and apartments, but limited access/distribution leads to the issue of homelessness. The full circle moment occurs when we apply practices such as the rural studio to combat homelessness and provide for local communities. Should more schools or firms focus on giving back to smaller communities in need? Should pro-bono design and construction be more common, or even required?
This is a great point you make about availability vs. distribution, across more than one societal issue. With architecture, why can't more be done like in the rural studio, to provide for underprivileged families and communities without separating them unnecessarily from the definition of what good architecture should be? Every community, regardless of economic status, deserves good architecture - whether it's built with the latest technologies or with straw and timber.
ReplyDeleteI think that more schools should focus on doing work like that, and students are the perfect demographic to do pro bono work. I wouldn’t go so far as to say as it should be required, but I think a good architect could utilize that as some really good marketing, if not motivate and teach themselves to make things cheaper since they’d be incentivized to save themselves money.
ReplyDeleteKathleen, I enjoyed reading your blog. The quote, "as architects, their goodness is more important than their greatness, their compassion more eventful than their passion" is beautiful indeed and must be kept in mind by every architect and architectural student. Before aiming to become big and great architects, first, our aim should be to become a good and compassionate architect. I do think that schools can play an extremely important role in shaping the thoughts of the students in this direction.
ReplyDeleteSelecting these kinds of projects might be harder for the firms, but they can definitely decide on a quota to dedicate a certain number of projects they are working on for small communities every year. Schools, in my opinion, have a great potential to work on projects and give back to smaller communities in need.
I think your question about pro-bono design is very thought provoking. The idea of pro-bono work when I started my first internship was a big no in my mind. Why would you ever do work for free? But then as I got further in my education, career, and life in general, I realized how naive I was before. I do think that pro-bono work should be encouraged, if not required, because it really is a necessity for many people to be able to live their lives and sometimes help other live theirs.
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