“The architecture developed within the walls of the studio incorporates a certain visual appeal while providing practicality in use. Since the programs early beginnings under the late architectural patriarch Samuel ‘Sambo’ Mockbee, the scope of the program [as well as my interest in what they do] has not diminished a bit.
Hale County Animal Shelter, 2007
Project Team: Jeff Bazzell, Julieta Collart, Lana Farkas, Connely Farr [fall ‘05 - summer ‘07]
Entry Photo of Dog Pound
One would state that though the forms may not be as elaborate in exterior form as others shown here in the past, the technical precession of the overall work has increased tremendously. This has partly to do with the use of three-dimensional programs in aiding specific design constructs. With all the changes and new challenges faced within the work the Rural Studio is taking on, I still hesitate to call it ‘new,’ because the major focus on helping those who are in actual need [from community projects to personal residencies] continues to remain at the forefront of all new endeavors. The students continue to facilitate the mass of the project themselves, from choosing from a list of potential beneficiaries in the early stages and ‘soliciting’ for donations of materials and money, to drafting and construction of the final design. The success of the Rural Studio in all literal senses remains in the hands of its very capable students.”
Structural Detail
Interior Kennel Space
Steel Leg Detail
” The structure is perched off the ground by custom designed steel legs [made from two pieces of steel welded to one another] anchored to concrete strip footings. The floor in which the animal kennels rest on is a concrete slab that stays warm in the winter months thanks to an incorporated radiant heating system. Air, ventilation, and natural light are provided by the open-ends of the design. More natural light floods the interior through three Plexiglas-banded openings in the aluminum shell.”
Dog Pound at dusk
” Introduction photo by Trent Gilliss, interior photo, architectural plan and section, and dusk photo by Timothy Hursley (provided for Architect magazine article, November 2007), and entrance, structural detail and steel leg detail photos found on the Halperin & Christ blog.” architecture.mnp