Last week, Peter and I went to the Penthouse theatre in Brooklyn to see an Architectural documentary called "Citizen Architect" which is about American Architect, Samuel Mocbkee. In 1992, Mockbee along with longtime friend DK Ruth founded the Rural Studio in Alabama USA.
The Rural Studio provides a program for enabling young Architects to have fully emersive and hands on training, working on real buildings and homes for people in need.
"The main purpose of the Rural Studio is to enable each student to step across the threshold of misconceived opinions and to design/build with a ’moral sense’ of service to a community."
Samuel Mockbee realized “architecture won’t begin to alleviate all of these social woes,” but argued it is a necessary step in the “willingness to seek solutions to poverty in its own context.”
Rural Studio structures combine sound construction, utilitarian functionality, and aesthetic harmony to give their inhabitants the dignity and comfort they deserve.
The Rural Studio website features a comprehensive and growing project archive click here.