The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University whose goal is to teach students both social responsibility while also providing safe, fine constructed homes with inspirational design for poor communities in rural west Alabama.

The project known as the 20K project is an ongoing project now into it 6th year. The project is based on trying to design and build and create alternative forms of housing on an extremely tight budget.

The project is based on the 20K limit to design and build a house for $10,000 for materials and with a proposed labor cost of $10,000, therefore not exceeding $20,000.

In the beginning four teams were put together to design four 20K houses. The four houses were completed and they are: the pattern book house ; the loft house; the roundwood house; and the bridge house.

Each team approached the design to fit in this tight budget and had a calendar year to complete the home. Currently four new clients have completed and paid for homes owned with the help of HERO.

Joey Fante a future architect showed his 20K project that with his team: Ryan Stephenson, Kait Caldwell, and Aimee O’Carroll designed and built the Loft House as part of the 2007/2008 thesis class at Rural Studio.

To view more photos visit arch daily and Rural Studio.

Photo Credit: arch daily