DESIGNERS take on reconstruction
Posted on March 20, 2008
Thirteen girls took their interior design skills on the road over Spring Break traveling to Alabama to help reconstruct two run-down structures and gain hands-on experience.
JMU’s chapter of the International Interior Design Association combined its passion for design and community service through a student-led trip to Hale County, Ala. After learning about Rural Studio’s innovative projects in its History of Modern Architecture class, JMU IIDA members decided they wanted their chapter to get involved.
IIDA President and senior Alli Smith planned the trip.
“Having it strictly run by students, it was hard to organize everything and make sure every little detail was taken care of because we didn’t know what we could do up along the way,” she said.
Heather Roberts, who organizes trips for Alternate Spring Break, was able to help Smith figure out what forms needed to be filled out and how to budget the trip. The cost was $275 per person including food, transportation, shirts and thank you gifts. The group also donated money to the Greensboro Baptist Church who gave the group a free place to stay.
“They fed us dinner and invited us to all their functions without expecting anything in return,” said Emily Thornton, events coordinator. “They were so open and welcoming.”
The organization sent almost 200 letters to architecture and design firms, sales groups and manufacturers around the country asking for funding assistance. Five donations were secured from Washington, D.C., Harrisonburg, Iowa and the West Virginia/Virginia chapter of the IIDA.
Rural Studio is a program at Auburn University, where second-and-fourth-year students divide up into teams to design and construct homes and other community buildings.
“Their designs are very eccentric and conventional materials are most certainly not used,” senior Ann Miller said. “For instance, some of their houses have license plates, old carpets and ripped up cardboard as building facets and insulation.”
Students in the program are expected to investigate different uses for materials as a way of recycling and saving money since the projects are completed in poverty-stricken communities.
“It was amazing to see students much like ourselves actually physically build their projects,” Miller said. “They don’t just learn how materials work and how to install plumbing and electricity in lecture class, they actually research how to and do it themselves.”
Thornton said members found the experience rewarding as both designers and citizens.
“A lot of people in IIDA do community service, so it was nice to combine the service with design,” Thornton said. “Rural Studio also uses a lot of recyclable materials which was interesting too because a lot of us are interested in green design. It’s a big misconception that design and architecture is for the wealthy but it shows that it can make such a big difference in people’s lives.”
The group spent the first day touring Hale County and the surrounding area where they saw completed Rural Studio projects. For the rest of the week, they were split into two teams and worked with thesis students from Auburn University. One group worked on a Boys and Girls Club facility in Akron.
“It was really cool to see the design and what they took into account for making the space functional for kids,” Thornton said.
The group painted, did metal flashing on the roof and cut and hauled lumber.
“Some of the guys and girls seemed skeptical about us working really hard because we were a group of interior design girls,” Thornton said.
The other group worked on Lions Park, a pre-existing space that the county and city both owned. Rural Studio worked as an intermediary, finding common goals and functionalizing the space.
“It was fun because we got to use sledgehammers and power tools,” Smith said. “I was really sore. We were glorified construction workers.”
Thornton said IIDA members hope to participate in future years.
”I feel like we all want to go back and visit and get people to go and work there,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to actually combine what we are learning, community service and giving back.”
