Rural Studio - an example of MAKING

Rural Studio is an off-campus design-build program of Auburn University. The program, established in 1993 by D.K. Ruth and Samuel Mockbee, gives architecture students a more hands-on educational experience while assisting an underserved population in West Alabama’s Black Belt region.

As an immersive, “place-based” program Rural Studio is engaged in all aspects of community involvement. We practice with a close attention to local, vernacular architecture. We seek to be conscientious stewards of the land.  We are deeply engaged with both elected political officials and community stakeholders alike. We learn from our neighboring artisans and craftspeople. We break bread with our neighbors, and are singularly attentive to the everyday rhythms of life in west Alabama’s rural Black Belt. Rural Studio seeks solutions to the needs of the community within the community’s own context, not from outside it. Abstract ideas based upon knowledge and study are transformed into workable solutions forged by real human contact, personal realization, and a gained appreciation for the history and culture of the Place.

To date Rural Studio students have designed and built more than 175 homes and community projects in west Alabama.