Rural Studio succeeds

Although we toured and reviewed many Rural Studio projects in our travels, due to the time of year and length of our trip, I felt we were unable to accurately grasp how well many of the projects have been successful on the scale of the community. Easily, I believe the housing modules, being inhabited, regardless of community opinion were successful simply because the students constructed a livable space, below budget, sustainable, that are used. Overall however, I was most impressed with the work to the alternative school we visited. On the morning we arrived, the school was 'in session' and several students were using the space clearly as it was intended. The retrofit interior spaces were creative, inventive and highly flexible for a variety of activities. School children can be a very demanding user group with ever evolving needs and wants. I found the interior storage, work spaces, display areas to be designed and construction in a well understood datum of materials with a hierarchy comprehended by even the most challenging of pupils that occupied the space. The construction methods were clearly student driven, but I respected the use of manageable materials that the student labor understood and mastered. The project left me desiring more permanence in the construction as I noticed connections and envelope sealing issues that will require maintenance, but at the scale of the project, the work was inhabitable, useful and most importantly: occupied. Although the project required a very regimented program, the students still managed to design significant programming space. I was impressed by the creative dual purpose to the storage that disguised and performed as building insulation. Our own projects in SC need to serve multiple functions and the Clemson group I am working with has identified multiple needs for the site. These demands will manifest themselves in multi functional designs and structures patterned off the ideas displayed by the students of the rural studio. I am in hopes our canopy/covering structure can begin to open, unfold and serve the needs of the future community occupants, but accomplish those design needs of functionality, support and cover simultaneously. In our upcoming design sessions, importance will be on pushing purpose of materials and design moves incorporating the idea of responsible design before aesthetic design to achieve sustainable practices on the level of theory before practice begins.