Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee And The Spirit Of The Rural Studio

The late architect Sam Mockbee founded the Rural Studio at Auburn University on the belief that “everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul.” His work is constructed mainly of refuse–old tires become the walls of a church, discarded windshields the roof of a community centre–and is both energetic and ethereal, seeming to mix magic with mortar in converting waste to brilliant new buildings. In this way, Mockbee’s work is a metaphor for his life, which he dedicated to collecting the ignored and the uninspired, exposing them all as something united and extraordinary. If money and morality were equal, Mockbee would have been a millionaire, but his life and work are a testament to something infinitely more valuable. — Sarafina DiFelice