Current Work: Rural Studio

Andrew Freear Introduced by Susan Rodriguez, moderated by David Lewis Andrew Freear is the Wiatt Professor at Auburn University Rural Studio. After the untimely death of the Studio’s co-founder Samuel Mockbee, Freear became the Director of the Rural Studio in Newbern, West Alabama, in 2002. He will present the Studio’s work and educational ethos. The Rural Studio is a hands-on architectural pedagogy that not only teaches students to design and build charity homes and community projects, but also improves the living conditions in rural west Alabama. The focus of the student’s thesis year is a community-based project and sustainable materials research. Working in small teams, the student’s experience the Arts & Crafts “hands-on” building tradition, and work directly with the community. Typically in teams of three or four, the students conceive of the project and program, raise funds, write grants, make community presentations, and design and build the projects from foundation to roof. Projects have ranged from baseball fields, community centers to a house made of cardboard. Having moved to Alabama nine years ago, Freear lives in the small rural community of Newbern, west Alabama where his main role, aside from Directing the Rural Studio is thesis project advisor to fifth-year undergraduate students and their building projects. Educated at the Polytechnic of Central London and the Architectural Association, London, England, he has practiced extensively in London and Chicago, and taught design studio for 5 years at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His work at the Rural Studio has been published in Architectural Record, Architectural Review, Progressive Architecture, Dwell, Domus, Abitare, and Lotus magazines. His work is also covered extensively in two books by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean and Timothy Hursley: the most recent entitled Proceed and be Bold: The Rural Studio after Samuel Mockbee. Andrew Freear has designed, supervised, and built Rural Studio exhibits in Chicago, Cincinnati, Vienna, Barcelona, at the 2002 Whitney Biennial in New York, the 2005 Sao Paulo Bienal of Architecture in Brazil, and at the 2008 Venice Biennale. He has received awards for Distinguished Service to Rural Life from the Rural Sociological Society, the Educator of Distinction Award from the American Society of Interior Designers, and a Commendation Award from the Architectural Review for Emerging Architects. In 2006 Freear was honored with The Ruth and Ralph Erskine Nordic Foundation Award which aspires to promote urban planning and architecture which is functional, economical, and beautiful, and which is to the advantage of underprivileged and deprived groups in any society. He is the first American-based architect to win this prestigious award. Most recently he was nominated as one of five finalists in the second edition of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, 2008. The purpose of this new architecture prize was to honor annually a living architect who moves toward sustainability. Susan Rodriguez is a design principal at Polshek Partnership Architects and is a current League Board of Director. Her recent projects include Schermerhorn House, a partnership with Common Ground. David Lewis is a principal at Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL Architects) and directs The Design Workshop, a design-build initiative, at Parsons The New School for Design. Tickets are required for admission to League programs. Tickets are free for League members; $10 for non-members. Members may reserve a ticket by e-mailing [email protected]. Member tickets will be held at the check-in desk; unclaimed tickets will be released fifteen minutes after the start of the program. Non-members may purchase tickets at www.archleague.org > events from October 13 until noon of the day of the program. Co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. AIA and New York State continuing education credits are available. This program was made possible in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.