Customer Reviews

Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Architecture

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Visionary Architect, Sambo Mockbee, practiced and taught the importance of designing for all people. The beautifully vernacular, student-built structures not only stimulate the rural imagination, but serve the most basic needs of their owners. This collection of stories and remembrances of The Heart of the Rural Studio programme, is informative and inspiring. Also contains an index of Rural Studio projects '01-'03 and many of Sambo's original sketches and paintings. A must-read for all young architects. A treasure for all that love and miss Sambo.

Truly an inspirational collection of the internationally reknown Sambo and the Rural Studio. This is a must for every idealistic designer who would like to see the social ramifications architecture could have. Proceed and be bold.

I think Mockbee has taken decency and kindness to a whole new dimension. I love seeing someone completely change perspectives in an industry, or anything else for that matter. This is a great book about the future role of architecture.

The author/architect, as another reviewer aptly put it has his heart in the right place. This reader found the book interesting, but after the first few projects the pictures really say it all. The residences were interesting, from a material and design point of view. I believe the design of the meeting places were all too small to be effective. I thought it was a unique, rewarding book, in an area I had never considered before, and I thought it was a win-win situation, young architects get to experiment with designs and some rural poor struggling homeowner obtains an upgraded house. Perhaps anopther "only in America situation" can it be said that a rural struggling southern village should sport some avant gard architecture. Interesting use of packed earth throughtout the book, but limited in scope

Heart seems to be in the right place...definately unsophisticated idealistic student work...Replacing traditional shacks with funky new age scrap shacks...Traditional/functional vernacular type buildings might have been a better long term choice and value for those concerned...