RURAL STUDIO; SAMUEL MOCKBEE AND AN ARCHITECTURE OF DECENCY.

Dean, Andrea Oppenheimer (text). Timothy Hursley (photographer). Lawrence Chua and Cervin Robinson (essays). [Auburn University Department of Architecture, Rural Studio; Samuel Mockbee, 1944-2001.]

ISBN 10: 1568982925 / ISBN 13: 9781568982922

Published by New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002., 2002

About this Item

Third printing (per publisher's number line upon copyright page). vi, 186 pages. Paperback: H 25.25cm x L 20.5cm. Paper covers lightly rubbed. Interior pages are clean. Binding retains some crispness. ISBN 1568982925.

Seller Inventory # Z626X-10116

Bibliographic Details

• Title: RURAL STUDIO; SAMUEL MOCKBEE AND AN ARCHITECTURE OF DECENCY.
• Publisher: New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1568982925
• ISBN 13: 9781568982922
• Binding: Soft cover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Architecture

About this title

Synopsis

For almost ten years, Samuel Mockbee, a recent MacArthur Grant recipient, and his architecture students at Auburn University have been designing and building striking houses and community buildings for impoverished residents of Alabama's Hale County. Using salvaged lumber and bricks, discarded tires, hay and waste cardboard bales, concrete rubble, colored bottles, and old license plates, they create inexpensive buildings that bear the trademark of Mockbee's work, which he describes as "contemporary modernism grounded in Southern culture."In a time of unexampled prosperity, when architectural attention focuses on big, glossy urban projects, the Rural Studio provides an alternative of substance. In addition to being a social welfare venture, the Rural Studio--"Taliesin South" as Mockbee calls it--is also an educational experiment and a prod to the architectural profession to act on its best instincts. In giving students hands-on experience in designing and building something real, it extends their education beyond paper architecture. And in scavenging and reusing a variety of unusual materials, it is a model of sustainable architecture. The work of Rural Studio has struck such a chord-both architecturally and socially--that it has been featured on Oprah, Nightline, and CBS News, as well as in Time and People magazines.The Studio has completed more than a dozen projects, including the Bryant "Hay Bale" House, Harris "Butterfly" House, Yancey Chapel, Akron Chapel, Children's Center, H.E.R.O. Playground, Lewis House, Super Sheds and Pods, Spencer House addition, Farmer's Market, Mason's Bend Community Center, Goat House, and Shannon-Dutley House. These buildings, along with the incredible story of the Rural Studio, the people who live there, and Mockbee and his student architects, are detailed in this colorful book, the first on the subject."I tell my students, it's got to be warm, dry, and noble"--Samuel Mockbee

About the Author

Andrea Oppenheimer Dean is former Executive Editor of Architecture Magazine and a published author. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Timothy Hursley is an architectural photographer who regularly contributes to the international press. He lives in Little Rock, AR.