Rural Studio: Incarnations of a Design-and-Build Programme

Catering for the needs of an impoverished rural community in Alabama through its design‐and‐build activities, Rural Studio leads the way internationally as a university‐affiliated architecture programme with a social remit. Guest‐Editor Michael Hensel describes how the initiative has grown and developed since it was first established over two decades ago, in 1993, by Samuel Mockbee for students from Auburn University. The realisation of tens of houses and community projects have not only helped to reshape the local environment, but with the more recent strategic approach advanced under Andrew Frear's directorship more long‐term projects have been launched and greater emphasis has been placed on the responsible local sourcing of materials, energy and food.