The few weeks since our last blog have been busy! As the weather heats up and our project moves forward, we’ve gone headfirst into our work. We’re excited to share our progress with you!

Studio: Can you Dig it?

We have had a huge change of pace for the studio project, Mark’s Home. The 3rd-years have run through a dozen iterations on the floor plan, met with our client Mark, remodeled the structure of the home, laid out and dug the footings, AND poured our footings. We’ve moved at breakneck speed to deliver on the project, and it has been such a rewarding experience. 

A major highlight was meeting with our client. Mark is the most interesting man in Alabama, and we are more than happy to design for him. Using presentations of drawings from last semester’s students, we were able to get to know Mark and learn more about how he lives. Mark has lived in Newbern for almost all his life, and for hours, he gave us stories of his childhood. Vivid descriptions of the street he grew up—and now lives—on.

The question of the hour is the location of the storm shelter beside Mark’s Home. After intense discussions lasting well past 5pm, we decided on a location of the storm shelter, along with a rough idea of the porch surrounding it. The design was critical; every decision was crucial. One team of students even laid out a 1:1 tape floor plan to better understand the space we’ll be making for Mark. 

The culmination of this design work was finalizing, digging, and laying rebar for the foundation of the building. We spent days from 8am to 5pm digging, measuring, and digging again.

Woodshop: Time to Kick Back

We’ve been getting very busy in woodshop now that Steve has familiarized us with the tools and equipment we’ll be using. To start, we’ve been assigned to make cutting boards. Using simple methods and materials, we put together detailed plans complete with storyboards showing how we intend to put together our boards. The project is small, but it has helped us get into the rhythm of woodworking and dip our toes into creating. 

Next, the four chair teams have made significant progress. We’ve been tasked to make mock-ups of our respective projects just to work out the kinks. This is absolutely a learn-as-you-go project, and we’re happy for the opportunity to start small and start again.

History: America’s Most Kissed Man… So Far

Speaking of big leaps forward, at the time of our last blog, we had only just begun to speak to Instructor Dick Hudgens. We had not yet been to a building, had very few materials, and had never had our drawing covered in red marks. As of this week, we have visited four historic projects and created a handful of watercolor pigments. Natural dyes are a fantastic way to connect with our local environment and gave many of us an excuse to get outside and explore Newbern. From pinecones to berries, lawn clippings to bamboo, nothing went unboiled. 

The first project we visited was St. Luke’s Chapel in Old Cahawba. The chapel has a fascinating history. Originally designed by Richard Upjohn, famed New York architect, the chapel has changed hands as well as physically moved in the last two centuries. The building was picked apart, put on the back of a horse drawn carriage, and carried on to greener pastures. Then, literally centuries down the road, students from Rural Studio managed to pick the chapel apart again, and move it back into Old Cahawba. They deconstructed the beautiful wooden arches, windows and siding—bringing it to Old Cahawba for us to enjoy.

This chapel was the first of many buildings we were expected to paint. Given our natural dyes and colors, including brown, light brown, dark brown, and gray, we carefully added depth and color to the sketches of St. Luke’s.

Next Dick took us through Magnolia Grove in Greensboro. Magnolia Grove is an early Greek revival plantation home not 15 miles from Rural Studio’s Newbern campus. Dick pointed out every instance of faux grain and black Egyptian marble; he brought up everything from the doorframes to the fireplaces. Being able to devour these amazing spaces from over 150 years ago is an unbelievable privilege—not to mention the fantastic history of these homes! Magnolia Grove was owned by the “most kissed man in America”, a man so sexy he became famous for it in 1846. Must have been some good gossip back in the day! 

Student Life: Plate of Pickled Purple

Just a few weeks ago, students were woken up with an urgent message to get to the town storm shelter as quickly as possible. A tornado was coming, and every student still in town over the weekend had to act fast. Students voiced their surprise that so many people lived in Newbern and were packed into the shelter like sardines. 

A few 3rd-years recently pooled their money to buy a basketball goal. Nothing has brought us together more than destroying the 5th-years in a game of pickup basketball.

One early morning, instead of going on-site or to Greensboro for studio, the class drove all the way up to Boligee, Alabama, to meet with Kendrick, the contractor who will be handling the construction of our storm shelter. He was working on a storm shelter for another client and invited us out to come and admire his work. We were all, however, absolutely distracted by the client’s cat, who was literally named D.O.T. Yes, his name is Department of Transportation because he was found in the garbage behind a D.O.T. facility. 

Thanks for tuning back in and keeping up with our progress. Catch ya later!