Editing Rural Studio (section)

== History ==
The studio was founded in 1993 by architects [[Samuel Mockbee]] and D. K. Ruth. It is led by UK-born architect Andrew Freear. Each year the program builds several projects: a house by the third-year students, and two to three thesis projects by groups of 3 to 5 fifth-year students. The Rural Studio has built more than 80 houses and civic projects in [[Hale County, Alabama|Hale]], [[Perry County, Alabama|Perry]] and [[Marengo County, Alabama|Marengo]] counties. The Rural Studio is based in [[Newbern, Alabama|Newbern]], a small town in Hale County. Many of its best-known projects are in the tiny community of Mason's Bend, on the banks of the [[Black Warrior River]].

The studio has been criticized for the way its projects take advantage of the power relations inherent in gift-giving, and for mistaking elitist architectural and middle-class values, rather than the process of political emancipation and [[self-determination]], as a way to improve the lives of the poor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Del Real |first=Patricio |date=2009 |title="Ye Shall Receive": The Rural Studio and the Gift of Architecture |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40481072 |journal=Journal of Architectural Education |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=123–126 |jstor=40481072 |issn=1046-4883}}</ref>