graduation

2022 Pig Roast!

May 14, 2022

Our small, rural community of Newbern, AL, nearly tripled in size for the 2022 Pig Roast weekend! This year’s event, the first since 2019, was a two-day celebration of West Alabama filled with three project ribbon cuttings, eight alumni lectures, a 100-mile current projects tour, graduation ceremony, and lots of fantastic food and music! A lot happened, so let’s take a look at Pig Roast by the numbers!

Breathing Wall Mass Timber Project Opening
Thermal Mass & Buoyancy Ventilation Project Opening
Horseshoe Courtyard Opening

3 Project Openings

8 Alumni Lectures, PechaKucha-Style

  • Samuel Maddox ’14, Boston, MA
  • Stephen Durham ’13, Kauai, HI
  • Ally Klinner ’12, Washington, DC
  • David Frazier ’11, New York City, NY
  • Cameron Acheson ’10, Birmingham, AL
  • Betsy Farrell Garcia ’08, Auburn, AL
  • John Marusich ’07, Birmingham, AL
  • Laura Filipek Patterson ’06, New Orleans, LA

2 Bands

  • Friday night: Raina Shine from Tuscaloosa, AL
  • Saturday night: Debbie Bond Blues Band feat. Carroline Shines, “Radiator” Rick, Marcus “Jukeman” Lee on drums and Alabama Blues Camp graduates
team picture at pig roast

4 Projects Presentations With 4 Amazing Clients

2 Class Presentations

  • History and Watercolor Class by Dick Hudgens
  • Woodshop Class by Steve Long

2 Rural Studio Initiatives Updates

4 Meals

Friday night’s dinner at the Horseshoe Courtyard was provided by The Stable and Abadir’s. We had mountains of tasty turkey and veggie wraps from Monique Kitchen at The Stable. Sarah Cole from Abadir’s treated us with a special farm salad, a chard + chickpea grain salad, an orange blossom ginger cake, and a coconut cake. Seriously delicious! We kicked off Saturday morning with treats from Wayside Bakery, then our favorite tacos for lunch from our very own Catherine Tabb and Doris Ward in the Rural Studio Kitchen. Saturday night, we had delicious BBQ pig by Bobby Scott along with more yummy BBQ and fried catfish from Mustang Oil!

23 Sponsors

Thank you to our incredible local sponsors! We couldn’t do this without you! Alabama Power, AerCon, BDA Farm, Hale County Hospital, NAPA Auto Parts, Parker Tire, Peoples Bank, Price Drywall, Reynold’s Electric, Superior Metal, Sweetbriar Tea & Coffee, The Stable, Blue Shadows B&B, City Furniture, Dozier Hardware, Greensboro Depot, Holmstead Company, Partridge Berry, Stillwater Machine, the Smelley family, Citizens Bank, Freeman Chiropractic, & Johnson-Torbert House

1 Graduation Ceremony

Introductions were given by Hale County Probate Judge Arthur Crawford and Karen Rogers, Acting Dean of Auburn University College of Architecture, Design & Construction. We also honored several special guests: Chelsea Elcott, Emefa Butler, Mary Jane Everett, Timothy Hursley, and Dr. John Dorsey. With surprise valediction speakers Julie Eizenberg and Hank Koning from Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica, CA, we celebrated our graduating 5th-year students: AC Priest, Adam Davis, Brenton Smith, Caitlyn Biffle, Collin Brown, Daniel Burton, Davis Benfer, Hailey Osborne, Jackie Rosborough, Laurel Holloway, Lauren Lovell, and Yi Xuan Teo.

AND 1 Marriage Proposal

Congrats Jake & Lauren, two returning alumni!

students on stage at pig roast valediction ceremony

And, of course, no Pig Roast would be complete without a few of our favorites: the Spencer family’s cannon blast of “Whiffle Dust” and beautiful (and massive) fireworks seen from every corner of Newbern.

If you missed Pig Roast, you can still catch up on the news from Rural Studio with blog posts from each team here.

Lastly, BIG congrats to our 5th-years who graduated from Auburn last week. We’re so proud of y’all!

Thank you to everyone for your support! #WarEagle

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Pomp and Staircumstance

May 10, 2022

Now that the Patriece’s Home team has a chance to catch their breath, let us tell you about the exciting last few weeks! Pigs have been roasted, mock-ups have gone up, executives have reviewed, so get ready, because we’ve got a full story!

A sketched perspective sits behind a tree on Patriece's site

Site Design Time! The students began investigating details of the site, including the existing trailer, driveway, and a beautiful, healthy Water Oak tree. The team met with David Hill (professor and graduate chair of Auburn University School of Landscape Architecture) to get some advice on how to draw and diagram zones of different uses on the site, such as play areas and parking. He advised the group to use simple but powerful landscaping tools, like subtle berms and trees that will last and grow over the home’s long lifetime.

An axonometric drawing of a section of the site indicates the types of existing trees
a collage of photos make a panoramic image of a cluster of pine trees with a blue car between them.
A screenshot of a Zoom meeting shows three boxes of participants and a site plan drawn over in digital marker

The team did a charrette to learn how programmatic zones and natural elements could inform where the house sits, instead of the other way around!

a man directs a student driving a Bobcat that is carrying a flat of quickcrete
four students pose infront of a drying concrete slab
one female student shovels dirt into concrete formwork
three shovels move wet concrete from a wheelbarrow to the formwork in the ground

The team also began making mock-ups of many of their home’s unique details!

a student aligns wood while a bucket of screws sits next to him
a student holds together pieces of their mock up framing
three student in conversation lean on their mockup framing

At the SAME time, the student team was preparing for the Studio’s annual Pig Roast weekend. The students mocked-up their most recent landscape plan on the site and created a scrolled slideshow to present their design of an adaptable two story home to the Studio’s families, friends, and alumni.

a diagram showing the circular timeline where a home changed interior color based on what figures are indicated to occupy it at a given time.
a drawing of a home illustrates the descriptive words surrounding it.
a cropped image of a students hands holding a model of the homes first floor
four students stand in front of large boards while one reads from a notebook
student surround a truckbed that displays their drawings using a cranked scroll
four students pose with their client in front of their presentation boards

And at the same time (are you sensing a theme here?), the Patriece’s Home team prepared for the Executive Review 2.0! The guest reviewers suggested the team use an elevated slab to mitigate their site’s slope, order materials and windows, and get in the ground as soon as possible. YAY!

four students stand on the amphitheater stage durning a nighttime ceremony
Fireworks above the chantilly ampitheater
confetti above the chantilly house

After Pig Roast and the Executive Reviews, the team rushed over to Auburn to graduate! They’ve worked hard on their research the last two semesters, but when they come back to Hale County next week, as leftovers, the real design-build work begins!

four students stand in the auburn football field, smiling in graduation caps and gowns
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New Leftovers in Hale’s Kitchen

May 10, 2022

Howdy from the Moundville Pavilion team! Recently, we were on a nonstop train ride as our final official semester of college came to a close with Pig Roast festivities, Executive Reviews, and graduation. And soon, construction will begin! Woohoo!

Pig Roast

Presenting our boards at Pig Roast on the site behind the pavilion

Rural Studio’s Annual Pig Roast was a hit! The team presented the final design to friends, family, and alumni. Thank you to all who came out and celebrated with us and a very special shout-out to Hank Koning and Julie Eizenberg for speaking at our Pig Roast graduation ceremony.  

Posing in our “I love Rural” Pig Roast shirts
Section drawings explaining the pavilion’s relationship to the surrounding campgrounds
We celebrated big at the annual Pig Roast Valediction Ceremony

Executive Review Part 2

Following Pig Roast, the team had their final Executive Review with Justin Miller, Rusty Smith, David Hinson, Emily McGlohn, and Judith Seaman. The reviewers provided much-needed feedback to help move the project forward as we prepare for construction.

Discussing the details of the pavilion roof and ceiling

Explaining the proposed process of construction

Moving Forward

In addition to all the celebration and reviews, the team has been meeting with the Studio’s structural engineer, Joe Farruggia, to finalize the column design, and Bill Zahner, of Zahner Architectural Metals, for some advice on aluminum panel systems that are appropriate for our ceiling and roof.

Discussing lighting strategies
Zoom meeting with metal experts at Zahner
Client meeting

We graduated!

We’re officially Auburn alumni!

See ya next time! 

Sincerely,

Official leftovers of Hale’s Kitchen.

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Next Time You See Me, It’ll Be On Site

May 9, 2022

Since our last update, the team has been digging, chopping, drilling, and sawing our way through the project, so let’s catch up!

First up, mock-ups. To better understand the details of the project in three dimensions, the team jumped into a 1:1 mock-up of crucial project details and so far, we’re learning a lot. More than just dusting off our chop saw skills, building several details at full scale is a way for us to reflect and improve upon some of the decisions we made on paper. For example, we learned from testing the window framing that making the rough opening stud continuous not only creates fewer pieces, but allows a direct load path from header to foundation. We’re also testing the character of the porch assembly and how we can marry our desired aesthetic with required bracing for wind uplift.

hailey and davis installing trusses
raymond installs blocking
team members frame a wall
team installs porch truss
AC fabricates a column

To prepare to break ground, we called in a local contractor to do some serious tree removal that was beyond our capabilities, and simultaneously ripped up the existing chain link fence to create equipment access and give us a chance to fully assess its condition and salvageability. The site has never looked spiffier.

site before clearing
cleared site

And how could we not give a toast to Pig Roast?! The first ever two-day Pig Roast went swimmingly, minus the part where our team ran into a rain shower and came out looking like we’d gone for a swim. It was the first time many members of the Uniontown community were able to see the project, along with our parents, friends, and many Rural Studio alumni.

davis marks window on site
hailey in the sleep space
team at pig roast
pig roast fireworks

The following week stayed just as busy as teams prepped for our second Executive Review. This was a make or break moment for the future of the project, but after an intense two-hour review, all three teams were given the green light! This means it’s full steam ahead for construction.

team meets for stress test

Oh yeah, and all twelve 5th-years graduated college three days later! What a week! Diplomas might be in the mail, but things are just getting started in West Alabama. The team is taking a few days off to relax and be with family, but y’all better believe the next time you see us, it’ll be on site!

Also, a big thank you to our parents for letting us stick around West Alabama for this next phase: building the C.H.O.I.C.E. House. And to our 3rd-year friends returning to campus this fall, we’ll see you next time in Hale!

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