rural studio

http://www.cadc.auburn.edu/rural-studio/
The Rural Studio is an undergraduate program of the School of Architecture at Auburn University. I recently watched a documentary about this program and was deeply moved by the design & build aspect of architecture.


At the rural studio, students spend a year in rural Alabama and build real houses for people who need housing in the community. The video we watched showed how students built a small home for a local "music man" so he could move into a real house and have clean running water for the first time in his life.  


I was deeply moved by the connection between the builder student team and the music man. His smile and happy life attitude inspired many students. The students live together, design together and then build together. Throughout the time they spend on the project, they are learning real architecture instead of paper architecture.


It is impossible to be a good architect without building something just like we would never want a doctor to operate on us if he has only practiced on models before. So it is important for architecture students to actually know about building houses. During this past summer I was interning at T.I.A. Architects in Amherst, MA. During the time I was there, my boss--the architect was building a ramp for the studio because the old one started to break down. Ramp is something really simply compare to a house, but when I was helping him, I realized that I know nothing about real architecture if I just draft on tables and the computers. I learned from the name of each nail to how to cut wood, and it gave me a whole new prospective of architecture.


Later in the summer, I volunteered for "Habitat for Humanity" in Easthampton, where we worked on a real housing project for a family there. During the day I was there, we did painting, measuring, air conditioner installing, and drywall. I did not know how to do any of those before. When I drill over different layers of walls for the hole for air conditioner, I saw exactly what the walls were composed of. I also started to realize that a community project like this is not all about beauty, but more importantly, about how to use the least amount of money to build more efficient and comfortable housing. The design that's nice and cheap to build is the best design. No fancy form is needed here, but a nice place for a family with kids.


After watching the video of rural architecture, I really hope to one day have the chance to be a part of a design&build team during my learning process towards being a real architect.